


Little Secrets

by shewritesall



Series: Dramione Full Stories [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Rewrite, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 41,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: Draco and Harry never had a petty rivalry in Hogwarts.  Instead of being repulsed by Hermione as Harry's best friend, he's intrigued by the smartest girl in their class.  Now it's 7th year and while their friendship may have been a little tough before, it's near impossible now as they find themselves on different sides of the war.  Unfortunately for both of them, that doesn't seem to affect their growing feeling for each other.  When they end up as Head Boy and Head Girl, they're not sure if that makes things better or worse.  Probably both if they're honest.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger
Series: Dramione Full Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711891
Comments: 51
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So since this is a 7th year story based on an AU where Draco and Harry were never enemies, I decided to give a brief description of Draco and Hermione's friendship over the years leading up to 7th year. It provides insight to their friendship and prepares for the rest of the book. It kind of got away from me and ended up longer than I wanted, but I hope you enjoy this opening chapter!

**First Year**

Draco could hardly hold in his excitement for his first day of potions. He'd always loved the craft and having Severus as his honorary uncle only fueled his enjoyment of the subject. Of course, his mother had gone to great lengths to make sure he wouldn't embarrass Severus in class and he knew he was supposed to give other students the chance to answer questions and not always steal the spotlight. Discovering Harry Potter shared potions with him only made it harder for him; for some reason, he wanted to prove to Harry Potter that he could do something too and become his potions partner. Unfortunately, it was revealed early on in class that Harry Potter knew nothing about the subject, but a strange girl he'd never seen before did.

After that, it didn't take long to find out who the girl was. Hermione Granger was her name, and Draco found it bizarre that he'd never heard of her. She was brilliant in all her classes and Draco was determined to find out her secret. Perhaps she was distantly related to one of the great potion makers. When he wrote to his parents and asked if there was a family by the name of Granger that seemed to excel in every magical subject, he was disappointed at the response.

_Draco,_

_Granger is not a wizarding name, but that of a muggle. You'll do well to move on from the girl as she is clearly a Mudblood and not worthy of your attention. Do not fret about her genius, however, as I am sure time will reveal her methods of cheating and you will surely pass her in every subject._

_Lucius Malfoy_

Draco had read the letter twice before checking for the hidden note his mother usually sent. He'd hoped her letter would bring encouragement, but he found no writing from her. He tried several different spells, hoping for even a brief message that she missed him. Ten minutes of searching and he realised his father's was the only response he would get. 

* * * 

Hermione couldn't have been more thrilled with her first year of wizarding school. Sure, there was the pesky problem of one of her teachers being controlled by another dark wizard, but overall, the year was wonderful. By May, she was dreading the upcoming summer and that it meant she wouldn't be able to practice magic for a couple of months. She, of course, planned on writing Harry and Ron during the summer, but neither of them seemed to care about school like she did. Part of her wished she'd devoted more time to making friends who did care about school, but the only other student in her classes who seemed to be equally excited was Draco Malfoy and he wasn't particularly easy to approach.

At one point, she'd mentioned him to Ron and Harry. Harry seemed like he couldn't care less about her possibly becoming friends with him, but Ron had been vehemently against the idea. He'd listed off reasons why she shouldn't be friends with him, ending with something along the lines of her being muggle-born and Malfoy being a pureblood. She hadn't seen how that affected anything at all, but Ron made it sound like the whole world would cave in if she'd approached him, so she'd kept her distance.

On the last day of school, she found herself hugging all her Gryffindor friends as she clambered off the train. Before she could meet her parents on the other side of the platform, someone tapped her shoulder and she turned around to see the pale, pureblood wizard she had just been arguing with Ron about.

"I know you can't do magic outside of school," Draco began, wringing his hands nervously and glancing behind her at something, "But if you ever want a new book on magic, my mother says you're more than welcome to owl and we'll send you something."

Hermione beamed. Ron had made it sound like Draco wouldn't want anything to do with her, but here he was, offering her books for over the summer. Not only that but Lady Malfoy (as she'd heard Draco's mother be called) was offering them to her! Ron couldn't have been more wrong about the Malfoy family if he'd wanted to.

"That would be absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed, almost moving to hug him. Something behind her caught his attention and she twisted around to see a regal looking woman standing several meters behind her. She immediately knew the lady was Draco's mother and sent a shy smile her way. Lady Malfoy did not respond. Instead of dwelling on the woman's lack of smile, she turned back to Draco and asked, "If I just send a letter with your name, will the owl know where to go?"

"Oh, you'll have to add Malfoy Manor right under it," Draco told her, glancing at his mother again and blushing. "But make sure not to sign your name."

However confused the last part of his offer made her, she didn't have time to ask. He picked up his bags, wished her a good summer, and hurried off before she could ask. Hermione watched him haul one single bag over to his mother who waved her hand at it. The bag levitated along beside them as the two blonds walked through the platform. With a huge smile on her face and already thinking of all the books she wanted to borrow over the summer, Hermione heaved her bag from the ground and hurried through the barrier to meet her parents.

**Second Year**

Upon returning to Hogwarts in the fall, Hermione had formed a what she would consider a friendship with Draco Malfoy. Between writing him every week and borrowing books from Malfoy Manor, she hadn't really had any other choice. In August, his letters had stopped and she hadn't received another book, but when she saw him in the Great Hall that first night at Hogwarts, she couldn't help but grin and wave at him. He'd smiled back albeit briefly, but she considered it a success. 

From then on, she made a point of saying hello to him in the hallways and offering to be lab partners during classes. While Ron muttered about how Malfoy was bad news, she found herself swapping notes with him in Transfiguration. Their friendship was limited and it was clear he wasn't nearly as invested in it as she was, but she knew the rumors Gryffindors liked to spread about Slytherins and was determined to let him know she wouldn't believe them.

When Harry was discovered to speak Parseltongue and the Chamber of Secrets became a problem, her attention drifted from Malfoy and his strange idea of friendship to solving the mystery before things got out of hand. It seemed she wasn't the only one who wanted to read up on Parseltongue, however, because whenever she went to the library for specific books, they were almost always checked out.

After one particularly disappointing day where every book she'd wanted was gone from the library, she found a pristine copy of _Slytherin Secrets: Parseltongue and Its History_ waiting for her in potions. Malfoy was pointedly ignoring her, but that didn't stop her from penning a lovely 'thank you' note and sending it to him via owl the next day. When he'd smiled at her across the Great Hall after reading the note, she felt like they were back on the same page.

* * *

Granger was strange, to him. He'd offered her the Malfoy library and she'd actually taken him up on it. Of course, he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was, but he found he rather enjoyed her weekly letters and being able to talk to someone other than those in the Slytherin house. The minute his father discovered who had been writing him all summer, though, it was ended and he found himself sulking for the remainder of the summer.

He'd returned to Hogwarts with strict instructions from his father not to continue his acquaintance with the Mudblood girl, as he'd called her, and an encouraging note from his mother letting him know she cared not who his friends were, but how their character was. Draco had found it rather strange but kept it folded neatly in his trunk and took it out whenever his father wrote to make sure he wasn't still friends with Granger.

The Chamber of Secrets had been a harsh blow. His father had found out and wanted to know if it was him, his letter oozing pride until Draco had to tell him he hadn't been the one to do it. His father hadn't written after that, but his mother had sent a wonderful letter updating him on what was going on at home and how much she missed him. He, of course, asked her to send every book on the Chamber and Parseltongue and had grinned when the package arrived two days later.

"—every time!" he overheard Granger complaining. She was wondering the library shelves and muttering to herself angrily. "Why is everyone interested in the stupid Chamber and stupid Parseltongue? Don't they know I'm trying to _research_?"

She bumped into him after that and they'd had a brief conversation. It didn't last long, but the next day, Draco left one of his beloved books in her seat at potions and watched from the corner of his eye as she beamed at it. When he received her letter the next day, he'd decided it was better to share his books with her than wallow in his father's orders.

"Did you hear?" Goyle asked, grinning at the breakfast table one day.

"Hear what, Goyle?" Draco asked, not fully awake and wanting nothing more than a piece of toast and to see Granger light up when he gave her a new book.

"The monster got Granger last night!" Goyle said gleefully. Draco frowned and looked across the Great Hall to see her usual spot empty. He tuned back into whatever Goyle was talking about to hear him say, "—found in the hallway last night! Pomfrey hasn't let anyone in to see her, but that hasn't stopped Potter and Weasley from practically camping out—hey! Where are you going?" Goyle called out as Draco stood up from the table.

"I have something," Draco said stupidly, hurrying back to his room and pulling out every book his mother had sent him. He still hadn't figured out what that stupid monster of Slytherin was, but he knew Granger must have figured it out if she'd been brave enough to wander the hallways at night. He wrote his mother again before going to class and hoped she'd be able to tell him what it was. The thought of a monster roaming the school that had gotten to even Granger was unsettling. Unfortunately, when the letter did come, it wasn't very reassuring.

_Dearest Draco,_

_Unfortunately, we have no more books on Slytherin's monster and I'm afraid I cannot be of any assistance. I've not a clue what it could be, but I'm sure your friend would be able to figure it out. After all, she has read many books of similar subjects if I correctly recall all the books missing over the summer._

_Best of luck, my darling, and please stay safe._

_Mother_

With no extra help from her, Draco spent the remainder of the day pouring over all his books and searching for clues. By the time Pomfrey agreed to let him into the hospital wing to see her, Potter and Weasley had settled in beside her and he forced himself to turn around and leave. He'd come back later and see if she'd left any clues out for him.

**Third Year**

Hermione found herself spending more and more time in the library as the year went on. Of course, it was hardly the second month, but Harry and Ron were being unbelievably annoying and the library was the only place she could find peace away from them. She'd claimed a table far in the back early in the year and since then, she found herself doing homework there every night. When she didn't have homework, she was curled up in the chair and reading for fun. It was one such night when Draco Malfoy dropped his school bag on the table and slumped in a chair beside her.

She jumped so hard at the sudden intrusion she dropped her book and nearly fell from her seat. Draco merely raised an eyebrow at her, but she couldn't stop her cheeks from growing red. Embarrassed, she reached down to pick up her book and continue where she'd left off. It didn't take long for her to realise she wasn't going to be able to focus at all with Malfoy sitting nearby and no idea what he was doing, so she closed her book and looked at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after a second. Malfoy looked up from the parchment he was scribbling on and frowned.

"Am I not allowed to sit here?" he replied. Now Hermione frowned.

"Well, yes," she started, trying to figure out a way not to sound rude when she said, "It's just, you've never bothered to say 'hello' in the hallways, let alone sit with me at all this year, so I figured we were no longer friends."

Malfoy stared at her for a long second and she shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of how strangely she was sitting in the chair. With her back against one of the arms and her legs thrown over the other arm, she was sitting in the chair sideways and looked more like a muggle than she ever had before.

"Maybe I want to be friends again," he finally said. Hermione blinked, processing his words before smiling. "That is," he said, suddenly looking very unsure of himself, "If it's alright with you."

"Of course!" she said, a little more enthusiastically than she'd intended. Her face heated up and Draco grinned. He returned to his parchment and she returned to her book as they fell into a now comfortable silence.

After that, Draco joined her at the library every night. Sometimes he was there before her and sometimes he arrived nearly thirty minutes after her, but he came every night. They worked on homework together and discussed various readings they'd been assigned. It was one such night when the conversation steered away from the reading Snape had assigned them about werewolves in Professor Lupin's class to one of Hermione's favourite books.

"It's called the _Undesirable_ series," Draco told her, setting aside his homework as he tried to explain the idea behind it. "Crabbe and Goyle think it's boring, but I find it interesting and I know you'd like it."

"Like it?" Hermione exclaimed, "Draco, it's one of my favourite magical series!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" 

They forgot about the rest of their homework as they discussed the series and Hermione told him about a similar muggle series. She was shocked to hear he was interested in reading it and promised to bring it after the holidays at home. Draco offered to let her borrow his first print edition and she beamed. They didn't leave the library until Madam Pince kicked them out, warning them curfew was in five minutes and they'd better hurry if they didn't want detention.

* * *

Third-year was the best year so far, in Draco's opinion. Sure, there was that pesky bit about Severus and Professor Lupin's petty rivalry and the high likelihood Lupin was a werewolf, but he and Hermione were becoming fast friends and he couldn't help but love how this year was going. He'd sent only two hidden letters to his mother, raving about how he and Hermione spent the evenings in the library and how she was the best study partner he'd ever had. He asked her to send his signed copy of the _Undesirable_ series and sent her a box of chocolates when she did. Over the holidays, he wrote to Hermione nearly every day despite the difficulty of fooling his father.

When it was time to return to Hogwarts, his father took him to the train and pulled him aside before he could escape.

"Big things are coming, Draco," his father said solemnly, sending a shiver down his spine. "You put yourself in danger by being friends with that Granger girl and I would hate to see you on the wrong side of things."

"What do you mean, father?" Draco asked. Lucius simply shook his head and looked behind him as the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station.

"I care deeply for you, Draco," his father said, worrying Draco more than reassuring him. "Everything I do, I do for you and your mother. You must know I would never intentionally hurt you."

"I know," Draco assured him. Lucius didn't seem to take his answer to heart as he pursed his lips. Draco spotted Hermione hugging her parents goodbye and must have smiled against his will because his father turned around. When Lucius turned back to face Draco, he was trying very hard not to turn red at being caught staring.

"If you continue to pursue your friendship with the muggle-born," Lucius said, shocking Draco at his lack of the word 'Mudblood', "I will not stop you. But you must understand it is dangerous in this world and you will need to do things to survive you may not like."

"I understand," Draco replied. If his father thought otherwise, he didn't say. Instead, he nodded and stepped to the side so Draco could board the train. "Goodbye, father."

"Goodbye, Draco," Lucius replied. Draco levitated his bag to the train but didn't turn to wave at his father like he did with his mother. Instead, he hurried to find an empty compartment and settle in. When Crabbe and Goyle came bumbling into his compartment, he didn't kick them out, too busy thinking about what his father had said and what he had meant by it.

**Fourth Year**

Draco was dreading returning to school after the Quidditch World Cup. His father had been suspiciously absent and busy all summer long, leaving him and his mother alone in the Manor. It wasn't that he hated having his father gone, it was that he had a feeling he knew what his father was up to and hated it. He hated having to pretend whenever Aunt Bella visited that he didn't know what was going on, but was willing to side with his family no matter what. When he and his mother were left alone in the manor, he would sometimes think about voicing his worries to her, but always decided against it. Who knew what his father could hear even while away and the last thing he wanted was for the man to return because of something Draco had said.

The announcement of the Triwizard Tournament that fall gave Draco many mixed feelings. It was something new; something that would provide both excitement and anticipation to the next year. He wondered how much it would change things (refusing to acknowledge he was mostly worried about his nightly study in the library with Hermione). Upon seeing her there Monday night, he grinned and settled down next to her.

"Have a good summer, Granger?" he asked. Just like the first time he'd appeared, she jumped. She managed to catch hold of her book this time and keep from turning as red, but he still grinned.

"Rather dull, if you must know," she replied with a smile. He'd missed her letters that summer; only receiving three for the duration of the break. "How was yours?"

"I'm not sure," he replied vaguely. She frowned but didn't press him further. Instead, she returned to reading her book quietly while he opened his own.

Returning to a semblance of normal was nice. Seeing Granger devouring a book beside him in the library provided some form of comfort Draco didn't realise he'd been lacking. As they had last year, they stayed in the library until Madam Pince kicked them out. Unfortunately for Draco, when he went the next day, she didn't show up.

Despite not seeing Hermione in the library for the rest of the week, Draco went nightly to the library. She showed up late Saturday evening and when she collapsed on the chair beside him, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. With a book in hand, she hardly glanced up at him but Draco found he couldn't look away from her.

"Don't let me ruin your studying," she murmured, smiling despite not looking up from her book. Draco felt his face heat up the slightest bit and frowned before turning back to his book. A second later, he caught her staring at him. Her eyes darted away and Draco grinned before forcing himself to focus on his own reading.

Draco quickly discovered Hermione only went to the library a few times a week. Potter seemed distracted enough to require her most nights, but whenever she found the time, he would find her in the library either studying or reading something related to the most current Triwizard Tournament task. They hardly talked, but Draco found her company reassuring and calming in a way he'd missed during the summer.

By the time the holidays were nearing, he found himself wondering if she was going home. He'd heard through the grapevine that Harry was going home with the Weasleys, but he hadn't heard anything about her.

"Are you going home for holiday?" he blurted one night in the library. She looked particularly exhausted and was struggling not to nod off as she read. At the sound of his voice, she tore her eyes from the pages of her book and squinted at him.

"No," she replied after processing his words. Draco smiled softly at her sleepy state.

"Not even to the Weasle nest?" he teased. She shook her head, a small frown crossing her face.

"I wasn't invited," she told him quietly. Draco joined her in frowning. How could the Weasleys invite Harry but not Hermione? The idea of them excluding her irritated him more than he'd anticipated. He was snapped out of his irritation by her asking, "What about you? Going home?"

"No," he replied. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled and nodded at him.

"I don't suppose you'll be frequenting the library," she mused. Draco smiled back at her and shrugged.

"I don't suppose I'll have anything else to do."

* * *

Hermione found herself enjoying the holiday at school more than she'd thought she would. Between spending all day in the library with Draco and filling her time reading up on the next Tournament task, the short time flew by. She'd planned on getting all her reading down in the library but after her first day of break, she discovered that would not be the case. Rather than reading and studying like they usually had, she and Draco spent the day talking and playing various card games. She taught him muggle games and he taught her more wizarding games than she ever cared to know.

"That's cheating!" she shrieked when Draco transfigured a card to suit what he needed. He looked at her innocently as she transfigured it back. "You can't use magic to win!"

"I've not a clue what you're talking about, Granger," he said, smoothly changing the card back. Hermione leaned forward and cast an anti-Transfiguration charm across the deck, smirking at him when he frowned. With a grumble, he drew two cards before he could play, setting one on the carpet in front of him.

At some point during their game, they'd moved from the table to the floor, allowing them much more comfortable positions. Hermione was lying on her stomach while Draco sat cross-legged in front of her. They'd long since discarded their robes and were in comfy clothes and no shoes as they teased and played cards through the afternoon.

"Oh," Draco said as they packed up the cards, "I nearly forgot your present."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up as he summoned a small gift in front of him and handed it to her. Tomorrow was Christmas so she supposed it was reasonable, but she hadn't thought he'd get her a gift.

"Oh, Draco, you didn't need to," she said, turning red as she took the present from him. He turned red as well, stuttering out some excuse. She'd planned on getting his gift tomorrow on a short trip to Hogsmeade, but now she wished she'd planned ahead better. "I'm getting yours tomorrow, I swear I haven't forgot," she told him, gingerly taking apart the fancy wrapping.

"Hermione, I told you not to," he reminded her. She avoided his eyes as she remembered several days ago asking what he wanted for Christmas. He'd made it quite clear she didn't need to get him anything, but she hadn't let that stop her despite agreeing not to get him anything. When she opened the box to find a beautiful hair clip, she was glad she had.

"Oh, god," she whispered, pulling the sliver and green clip from its box. Despite the Slytherin colours, it was in the shape of a lion's head and she knew he'd had it specially made. "Draco, how much did you spend on this?" she asked, gingerly taking the pin from its place in the pin.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said, trying to brush her off. Hermione shook her head, telling him it was and pulling the sides of her hair from her face. She tucked the strands into the curve of the clip and stuck the pin through the loops to secure it.

"I love it!" she told him, throwing herself forward to hug him. He was tense for a second before relaxing and hugging her back. When she pulled away, she was still grinning as she said, "If you don't have any plans, you're welcome to accompany me to Hogsmeade to pick up your gift in the morning."

"I'd love to," Draco said. At that moment, Madam Pince came to announce she was closing the library, so they finished cleaning up their area then split up for the night.

In the morning, when Draco met Hermione on the steps of the castle wrapped in a thick cloak and warm mittens, Hermione couldn't help but grin as they went into Hogsmeade. After picking up Draco's present and receiving a bear hug in response to the signed copy of the _Undesirable_ series. She'd chanced writing his mother and to ask for his first edition copies, hoping he wouldn't notice their absence during the two months she'd sent them away to be signed. Apparently he hadn't as he muttered about writing his mother to ask her about it as they went to get butterbeer. Hermione refused to acknowledge just how nice the hug had been and hated herself for wondering what it would be like if he hugged her more often.

**Fifth Year**

Hermione hated Umbridge. That ugly, horrible woman had given Harry detention early in the year and only gotten worse. From restricting their defense classes to searching for reasons to give students detention, Hermione decided she hated the woman. She didn't bother hiding her disgust as Draco sat beside her in the library, listening to her rant about her. She knew Umbridge favoured Draco and in turn, Draco didn't openly hate her, but she could tell by the sly smile on his face that he felt the same way Hermione did.

When she finished ranting for probably the dozenth time that year, she looked at Draco for a response. He was smiling at her with an expression she couldn't quite place. After a second, he leaned forward in his chair and said, "So what are you going to do about it, Granger?"

She was so shocked it took her a second to realise what he meant. The idea of doing something behind Umbridge's back was so preposterous, Hermione wondered if he was toying with her. When he brought up the idea of a secret defense class a couple of days later, Hermione knew he was serious.

So she went on with the plan. She and Harry created what they called Dumbledore's Army and even with Harry busy learning Occlumency from Snape, it worked. Time in the library with Draco was cut short as both of their schedules got busier and busier. When it was finally time for the holiday, she found herself wondering if Draco was staying or not.

To her complete and utter surprise (not joy; it was not joy that she felt), he was waiting for her at their table in the library the Saturday after the holiday began. At first, she thought it was just a regular meeting, then she realised his mind was elsewhere and forced herself to not pry.

The library was silent the entire time and when Madam Pince kicked them out, Draco didn't even say goodbye. She almost didn't expect him the next day, but he was already sitting at their table when she arrived. She sat beside him without a word and opened her book, resolving to finish it that morning and grab a new one before lunch.

Every day until Christmas morning was the same. When she walked into the library Christmas morning, a small parcel tucked under her arm, she frowned at the lack of Draco's presence. Nevertheless, she settled into her chair and opened her new book. Draco arrived as she turned her second page but didn't sit down. When she looked up at him, she immediately knew something was wrong and closed her book. She jumped to her feet to ask him what was wrong, suddenly very aware of how much taller than her he was.

"What's wrong? What's happened?" she asked, itching to reach out and comfort him. His whole body was tense and from the corner of her eye, she saw his fingers twitch toward her. Neither of them moved toward each other though.

"It's Christmas," he said. She stared at him, knowing that wasn't what was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" she repeated, softer this time and gave in to the urge to grab hold of him. His fingers immediately laced with hers and held on to her tightly.

"It's not something I should say on Christmas," he said, choking on the last part. She frowned and tried asking him again, but he shook his head. "I'll tell you later. For now, this is all I need," he told her, squeezing her hand. She was still worried, but she nodded and twisted to grab the present she'd gotten him.

Without letting go of his hand, she grabbed the small box and handed it to him with a smile. He regretfully let go of her hand to take the box and open it. When he peered inside, she saw a look of confusion cross his face. She rushed to explain.

"Harry and Sirius have one," she started, pulling the little hand mirror from the box. "I charmed it to call me whenever you want it to." She pulled her own mirror from her pocket and opened it. He opened his and when she told the mirror to show her Draco, his reflection shimmered to life on the little glass. Her own face grinned at him both through the mirror and in real life. "In case writing ever becomes too tedious, what with everything going on," she explained weakly. Draco grinned and pulled her into a hug, holding her longer than necessary and dropping a kiss to her cheek when he finally let her go.

"I love it," he replied, pocketing the mirror carefully. "Thank you so much."

Hermione couldn't help but grin, taking the chance to talk to him for the first time in a while. With an empty library and the warm smile on his face, it was easy to catch up on the time they'd missed and talk about their classes. Draco pointedly ignored questions about his family and turned them around on her. It wasn't until she returned to her room late that night that she realised he hadn't given her a gift. Instead, the small package sat on her bed wrapped the same as last year.

With a smile, Hermione got changed into her pyjamas before seating herself on the edge of her bed and opening the small box.

She hadn't had any idea what to expect, but a small velvet box and a pristine envelope had not been it. Choosing to open the box first, Hermione let out a soft gasp as she saw a silver ring staring up at her. It didn't have a large diamond like she would have expected from Draco, but it was embedded with tiny crystals on the outside. Instead of being bright and eye-catching, it was small and perfectly like her. She slipped it on with a smile, unsurprised to find it fit perfectly. Next, she reached for the letter and broke the seal on the envelope.

The letter was longer than she had expected, but she savoured every word of it. From beginning to end, she read it twice, tears creeping into her eyes both times. It took a lot of control not to flee from the Gryffindor tower and seek out Draco just so she could hug him and promise everything would be alright. Instead, she pressed a soft kiss to the letter and carefully folded it back into its envelope. She placed a concealment charm on it as well as a safe-keeping one before tucking it away in her trunk. Deciding to keep the ring on for the night, she curled up in her bed and waved a hand at the lights to shut them off.

Tomorrow, she decided, she would ask him what was wrong again and bring up the letter. Unfortunately, he didn't show up at the library and she never got the chance to ask.

**Sixth Year**

Draco's arm itched. It had all summer and he hated what it meant. Returning to the school meant several things this year, but mostly it meant he'd have to lie to Hermione. They'd used her magic mirror multiple times over summer, but Draco had nearly had a heart attack when his mother found it and told her they could no longer use the mirrors. He hadn't spoken to her since late June and was dying to know if she would be in the library to talk Monday evening.

She was, of course, but Draco only knew this because Blaise told him he'd spotted her there. Much to Draco's chagrin, Severus had reminded him of his mission and helped him find a secure location to work on it that night. Draco didn't make it to the library until Thursday evening and by then, he felt so bad he almost didn't go.

The second he stepped into the corner where their little table was, he knew they were surrounded by charms. Clearly, Hermione had known Blaise had watched her the few days prior and decided to enchant the location with so many charms only he would ever be able to find the place. He wondered if Madam Pince would even be able to find them and kick them out. He didn't have much time to think about it, though, because the second he stepped through the charms and drew her attention, she flung herself at him and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she muttered against his shoulder. Draco couldn't help but hug her back just as tightly at her words, thinking the exact same thing about her.

"Of course, I'm alright," he assured her. They separated and sat in their respective chairs. Draco scooted his a little closer to her and couldn't help but notice the ring he'd given her last Christmas was no longer on her finger. She seemed to notice his stare because she pulled a silver chain from under her uniform and revealed the ring to be hanging around her neck.

"Harry and Ron asked one too many questions," she said with a small smile. Draco returned it and she tucked the necklace back under her shirt.

After that, he met with her every Thursday and Sunday night in the library. He quickly learned Madam Pince could not, in fact, find them through Hermione's charm work and refused to write a proud letter to his mother in fear that his father or someone even worse would read it. Instead, he kept his pride to himself and reminded himself that asking her to stay past curfew with him in the library was a very bad idea.

Instead, when he wasn't at the library arguing against his own mind, he was working hard at the vanishing cabinet on the seventh floor. He'd get frustrated every now and then and seek out Hermione in the library on those odd days, trying to ask her inconspicuous questions that could possibly further his work. Sometimes, the only thing he could do to make more progress was read and he gladly did so with Hermione in the library.

As the holiday neared, he grew more anxious. The lack of classes meant he had all day to work on the vanishing cabinet, but he also wanted nothing more than to spend the entire time with Hermione in the library. When he heard she'd been invited to the Weasleys for Christmas, he pretty much figured Friday would be the last time for several weeks he would see her, so he was very surprised to see her Saturday morning at breakfast. That, of course, delayed him in his work on the cabinet as he wandered to the library and ask her why she hadn't gone with Ron and Harry.

"I figured you could use a friend more than they could," she replied, smiling at him over the cover of her most recent book. His arm itched and his heart ached at the thought that he'd been busy with the cabinet every day and she'd ben left alone, but he couldn't dwell on it long. Shortly after that, he'd left for the seventh floor but found it difficult to concentrate.

He refused to visit the library for three days after that, knowing the Dark Lord was getting impatient and Severus was sure to tell his parents if he didn't make substantial progress over the break. When he finally managed to get a bird through without killing or otherwise hurting it, he decided he deserved a break and went to the library to find Hermione.

He had barely stepped through the enchantment barrier when he knew something was wrong. Hermione was buried in a book and not looking up at him. She tended to look up the instant he appeared, so he knew something must have happened for her to ignore him so.

"Hermione?" he asked. She didn't look up. He sat beside her and the only response he got was the turning of a page. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"You tell me, Malfoy," she replied, looking at him pointedly and snapping her book closed. He sighed; he figured he deserved her cold attitude but her refusal to call him by his first name hurt a bit more than he'd thought it would. "I stayed over break for you and this is the first time you've come to the library," she said. He opened his mouth to point out he had come by earlier, but she cut him off. "That doesn't count and you know it. You didn't stay."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly after a pause. She didn't look impressed by his answer and even reached for her book to block him out. "Wait!" he exclaimed, reaching forward to stop her. His hand grabbed her own and they both froze. With pain he didn't think possible, he pulled away from her when he realised his dark mark was on the hand he'd reached for her with. She was the last person he wanted that godforsaken mark to touch.

She motioned for him to continue, either not having noticed or choosing to ignore the way his hand had pulled back from her like it burned.

"I can't tell you what's going on," Draco whispered, looking at the ground. He didn't want to see her disappointment, but when she started to pack up her things, he closed his eyes tightly and (hoping the charms she'd set up repelled Death Eaters and magic listening tactics) blurted out, "He'll kill me. He'll kill my mum and probably my father too and I swear I want to, Hermione, but I just can't tell you."

That effectively caught her attention as she stopped packing her things and looked at him, waiting for him to say more. He opened his eyes and her gaze immediately softened when their eyes met. The tear that escaped betrayed him and she dropped to the ground in front of him, taking his hands in one of hers and reaching up to wipe his cheek.

"Draco, please tell me what's going on," she whispered. His eyes squeezed shut again and he shook his head. He couldn't tell her. If she knew what he was assigned to do, she would tell Dumbledore before he could even try. Besides, once he'd done his task, she'd hate him and probably regret all the time they'd spent together. There was no good way for this to end.

"You know what I mean," he said softly, opening his eyes to look at her again. He'd told her, albeit not straightforwardly, that the Dark Lord was living at the Manor now. He knew she'd known he was back and telling her that his house was invaded with Death Eaters who were itching to kill her didn't seem like something to tell someone on Christmas Eve.

"Are you in danger?" she asked, looking so worried he almost thought she would help. Maybe if he was in danger she would see he had no choice and wouldn't hate him for his actions. But no, he wasn't that stupid and he knew she'd see right through him.

"I'm not," he said. He looked straight at her as he said it and knew she knew what he meant. She was, and by staying friends with him, she was only pulling herself closer to her own doom.

"I'm not afraid of death, Draco," she told him softly, squeezing his hands tightly and brushing her thumb across his cheek. He subconsciously leaned into her touch.

"I know. That's why I worry for you."

There were things worse than death and if anyone knew that, it was the Dark Lord and his followers. Draco knew how ruthless the Death Eaters were; he'd seen them kill muggles for fun and torture blood traitors just because they could. It had all happened in his house and was one of the few reasons he refused to return to the Manor for the holiday. His assignment just provided an easy excuse.

"I worry about you," she told him. He frowned. That was the last thing he wanted her to be doing. If she worried about him, she was likely to get involved. "Every time I come and you're not here, I worry maybe he's called you away and forced you into something."

"You don't need to worry about me," he said, trying to convey to her just how much he didn't want her to do that. She just smiled tightly and turned to pull something from her bag.

"I know, but I do," she said, fiddling with a wooden box she hadn't bothered to gift wrap. She pulled her hands from his and handed him the box. "I know we usually do gifts on Christmas Day, but I think I'll be able to sleep better tonight once I know you have this and are safe."

He was confused, but instead of asking questions, he chose to open the box. Inside was a thin amulet. It was clearly handmade and the emerald stone at the center was held in place by thin silver wires, twisting together to resemble a snake although not so much it was obvious. Draco glanced at her for an explanation.

"It's a protection amulet," she said, wringing her hands nervously. She avoided his eyes as she said, "I read about them over summer and spent all summer working on charming it with the strongest charms I could do and even asked McGonagall to look at it. She says it's one of the best she's ever seen, but I think she just said that to make me feel good—"

Draco cut her off by dropping from his chair to pull her into a hug. Her voice was muffled as her face smashed into his chest and she immediately melted at his embrace. He held her for several minutes, willing himself not to cry and making silent promises to keep her safe no matter what because no one had made an enchantment amulet for him before. No one had ever cared so much to spend their entire summer working on something for him and then going to ask a teacher who could very well demand to know things he knew she would never tell.

"I'm going to wear it forever," he promised, burying his face in her neck and hugging her tighter. He felt her squeeze him in reply and he slowly let her go. As soon as he was able, he slipped the amulet around his neck and immediately felt warm. The small thing hid smoothly under his robes and Hermione beamed at him when he told her it was perfect.

"I hope it works," she muttered. Draco fingered it through his shirt and reveled in the feeling of warmth it provided him.

"I'm sure it will."


	2. Chapter 2

Arriving at Hogwarts after bidding Harry and Ron good luck on their Horcrux hunting felt strange to Hermione. She'd insisted on returning under the excuse someone needed to help the DA and keep an eye on things at Hogwarts, but she'd also wanted to keep an eye on Draco. With Snape stepping in as Headmaster and the Dark Lord obviously back, Draco was sure to have been roped in to the Death Eaters plot and she wanted to be around to help him if he needed it. She knew Snape was with the Order, but he was also with Voldemort and Draco would only know he was on Voldemort's side. She doubted he'd turn to the Headmaster if he had any doubts about his family's side of the war.

Of course, another one of the reasons she'd returned to Hogwarts was because he'd been offered the position of Head Girl. She'd dreamed about receiving the badge since first year and to finally get it felt like a dream. Well, considering all the circumstances, it was really more of the good part to a horrible nightmare, but at least one thing good had happened during her summer.

Given the circumstances, she hadn't heard from Draco since the end of the year and despite knowing he wore her amulet constantly, she still worried. Harry had told her he'd tried to kill Dumbledore before backing out and allowing Snape to do so. Despite wanting to think Draco better than that, she knew what side his family was aligned with and doubted it was really as far fetched of an idea. When she'd gotten to the part of her Hogwarts letter explaining Draco would be Head Boy, she'd nearly cried with delight. Since the Heads had their own dormitory, she'd be able to keep an eye on him while also keeping up with their nightly study routine from the safety of her dorm. She'd heard about the new teachers coming to Hogwarts and the thought of roaming the school with Death Eaters like the Carrows around was not warm and fuzzy.

Unlike past years, Hermione wasn't smiling as she left the Hogwarts Express and got onto a carriage to go to the castle. Hagrid's voice wasn't calling for first years and Ginny didn't have to tell her it was Alecto Carrow yelling over their heads for her to know. Rather than dally and see where Draco was, she quickly boarded a carriage with Ginny, Luna, and Neville and watched the Thestral pull them to the castle.

Discovering the carriages were pulled by actual creatures had been a huge shock, but nothing she hadn't recovered from by reading up on it. She'd felt bad about giving Harry a bad time the year before and apologised several times for it, but now she just wanted it to not be normal.

"Do you really think the Carrows with be allowed to teach?" Ginny asked halfway to the castle. The carriage ride had been silent up until then, but Hermione could see how nervous all three of her friends were.

She shared a look with Neville before saying, "Yes, so we just have to make sure we keep out of the way so they don't give us detention."

Ginny shivered at the thought of detention with the Carrows and the rest of the ride to the castle was silent.

When they finally arrived at the castle, they hurried through the cold hall and into the Great Hall. Ginny, Luna, and Neville went to find their seats at the tables, but Hermione made her way to the front of the room to ask Snape what duties were expected of her that night. As she passed Amycus Carrow sitting to Snape's right, she could feel his eyes on her. He whispered something to Snape before she reached him and a sly grin broke out on the Headmaster's face.

"Headmaster Snape," she greeted, stopping in front of him. Snape looked at her with a bored expression so she asked, "Is there anything I should be aware of tonight or will my duties as Head Girl begin in the morning?"

"You can shine my shoes, Mudblood," Amycus hissed to her left. Hermione ignored him, refusing to let his words affect her. She was sure to hear the comments every day for the rest of the year and if she wanted to have any sanity, she'd need to learn to ignore such comments.

"Your duties will begin in the morning, Miss Granger," Snape drawled. She waited for him to explain when and what they were, but he didn't. He just stared at her, waiting for her to leave.

With an awkward shuffle away, Hermione left the front of the Great Hall and joined Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table. She was suddenly very glad she'd told the Weasleys and listened as Charlie and Bill told her what to expect on the first day. They couldn't speak for the Head Girl during their time, but as far as they knew, she hadn't been expected to start work until the following morning. Having them so willing to explain things was now something she couldn't be more grateful for given Snape's lack of willingness and the hatred she'd felt just standing there. Even now, she could feel Amycus Carrow's eyes on her as she sat and tried to listen to whatever Neville was saying.

When the front doors were thrown open, Hermione jumped in her seat. Alecto Carrow led a short line of first years to the front of the Great Hall and stopped them in front of the table. Madam Pomfrey, who was now seated at the very end of the table, moved to grab the Sorting Hat and place it on the stool in front of the room. As she returned to her seat, Alecto called out the first name. With a shock, Hermione realised the Hat wasn't going to sing its usual song.

It was a tense few seconds before a cry of "Ravenclaw!" sounded across the room. A weak attempt at applause came from the Ravenclaw table and a few boos came from the Slytherins. Hermione sent a sharp look at the Slytherin table but stopped short when she realised Draco was snickering with Blaise at the first year's embarrassment. She hardly had time to think about it before "Gryffindor!" was shouted across the room and the boos from Slytherin drowned out the welcoming cheer the older Gryffindors gave.

The rest of the sorting went on the same. The Slytherin table either booed when a different house was called or flooded the room with cheering when their own was called. None of the teachers said anything and when the sorting was over, the room was much tenser than before.

As Snape stood to make the usual Headmaster speech, the Hall grew even quieter and Hermione forgot how to breathe.

"Welcome back to a new year," he drawled, his eyes scanning the entire room slowly. When his eyes landed on Hermione, they stayed there as he said, "Some of your classmates have chosen not to return, but it's for the best." Hermione sucked in a breath when his gaze finally swept over her and he continued on. "This year has brought many changes like the Carrow siblings who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. As usual, I expect you to willingly and happily obey their commands as favouritism this year will not be tolerated."

Hermione knew that last part was said mostly for her and didn't apply at all to the Slytherins. With the Carrows as teachers and Snape as Headmaster (no matter how much he played double agent), the Slytherins would surely rule the school and Hermione was already dreading the year.

Snape quickly finished his speech, but Hermione had tuned the rest of it out. She was already trying to figure out how to this year would go and she wasn't liking any of the outcomes. Even when the food appeared in front of her looking as delicious as ever, Hermione was too busy thinking and worrying about the younger students to eat more than a few bites of the potatoes.

"Hermione, you have to eat more than that," Ginny said, ripping a bread roll in half. Hermione watched her butter it then took the half Ginny offered her with a small smile. The roll was good, but her mind was elsewhere and she wanted nothing more than to leave with it. The jolly laughter from the Slytherin table nearby was not helping though.

"I'm worried, Gin," she murmured before taking another bite. Ginny didn't comment, but they shared a look and she nodded.

"The DA is prepared," Ginny assured her, twisting behind her to look at Luna and the other DA members in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. "We'll teach the younger ones and watch out for each other."

Hermione was still worried, but knowing that Ginny was prepared to fight for the younger ones and even rally the DA despite Harry's absence helped a little. A shrill laugh from the Slytherin table and a glance at the Carrows reminded her it was unlikely to be enough, but at least the DA wasn't completely helpless and the older students were able and willing to help the younger students. However, just to be sure Ginny wasn't the only one, Hermione slipped away to Gryffindor tower that night instead of retreating to the Head's dormitory and almost started crying at the sheer amount of students who offered to help protect, train, and teach the younger students and promised to reach out to the other houses as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco knew why he was there, but he wished he didn't. He'd asked his mother before leaving and he'd asked Severus a few days before that, but he still hated the reason. The Dark Lord hadn't bothered with much more explanation than he was needed to keep an eye on the students as a student. It sounded pathetic to him, but he figured it was a fair assignment after failing to kill Dumbledore like he'd been tasked with last year.

Merlin, all of last year was a horrible blur for him. After fixing the cabinet and telling Severus in a panic that he'd succeeded, he could have sworn he saw disappointment in his godfather's eyes. He hadn't had time to read into it before Severus was handing him a letter from his father that had come a few days prior. On the back, it informed him not to read it until he'd succeeded with the cabinet, probably the reason Severus had kept hold of it. The seal wasn't broken and Draco knew even magic couldn't fix his father's seal once broken, so he'd read the letter while still standing in front of Severus and nearly forgotten how to breathe. The rest of the year had been the worst few weeks of his life. Between the anxiety of not knowing when Death Eaters would invade Hogwarts and the weight of killing Dumbledore on his shoulders, Draco had found himself spending most of his free time with Severus to perfect his Occlumency and relay some of his worries.

It was Severus who'd come up with the plan that provided Draco an escape from murdering the Headmaster. It was easy enough to believe Draco would want his godfather to be restored to his prominent position in the Dark Lord's ranks, so he would step aside at the last minute and allow Severus to kill Dumbledore, claiming he only wanted to see his godfather return to his rightful rank and being willing to give up his own glory. The Dark Lord had believed it (or at least seemed to believe it), but his mother had seen right through the lie and hadn't wasted a single minute in going to comfort him as soon as the coast was clear.

When he'd told his family he'd made Head Boy at Hogwarts but thought he wouldn't be returning, the dinner table had gone silent. His Aunt and Uncle were there, but they didn't seem to care the Dark Lord hadn't informed him of the real reason for his return.

"Harry Potter's Mudblood friend Granger is going to be the Head Girl," Aunt Bellatrix had said happily. She'd looked like she'd wanted to jump up and down as she told him, "The Dark Lord has tasked you with keeping an eye on her. Surely she'll be getting news of Potter's... travels. You’re to interfere and keep the Dark Lord posted on the boy's whereabouts."

Draco hated the idea and said so to his mother that night. While around his father, he had to pretend like his father and present himself as all Malfoy men in history had. With his mother, however, he kept the secret of his friendship with Hermione and confided in her just how much he hated being around the Dark Lord. Everything was said in a safe place, surrounded by more charms and magic than Draco could have thought possible.

When the day finally came to return to Hogwarts and begin his mission of spying on Hermione, he'd actually thrown up in the bathroom on the train to school. He kept quiet as his friends mused and joked about the future, trying to seem unfazed by their ridiculous ideas and fooling everyone except Blaise. For some reason, he expected things to look so much different when he entered the Great Hall. Instead, he found Hermione making her way from the teachers' table to her usual spot. He tried not to glare at Amycus who was watching Hermione in a way Draco didn't like, so he turned to talk to Blaise.

At the end of dinner, Draco tried to find Hermione and walk with her to the Head's dorm, but she was nowhere in sight. It was probably for the best as if anyone saw them walking the halls together, they'd probably think something of it that it wasn't. He really just wanted to make sure she wasn't attacked in the halls like he'd heard some of his housemates musing about.

He waited an hour after dinner before allowing himself to worry. When she didn't return by curfew, he was sorely tempted to go hunt her down. Just as he gave in to the urge and threw open the door, Hermione was standing in front of him. They blinked at each other before Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the dorm.

"Where have you been?" he asked, shutting the door tightly behind him and turning to face her. He still had his hand around her arm, but she wasn't pulling away. "Do you know how dangerous it is to be caught after curfew now? I was worried sick!"

"I was at Gryffindor tower," Hermione explained, giving him a small smile. She glanced down at where he was holding onto her then looked back up and said, "And you're hurting me, so please let go."

Draco let go of her so fast he stumbled back in the process. He stuttered out an apology but was stopped when she grabbed hold of his shoulders and pulled him forward to hug him. The touch immediately calmed him and he melted into her embrace, wrapping his own arms around her and relishing in the feeling of having her back. Summer had been horrible, but at least he would be with her every day this year.

When they finally pulled apart just enough he could look at her, she was smiling. He was about to ask why, but her hands found the protection amulet under his shirt and he smiled as well.

"I never took it off," he told her. She beamed and reached to pull the chain necklace holding her ring out from under her shirt. His smile softened as he remembered the accompanying note he'd written her that Christmas, practically begging her to be careful and make sure she was safe. What he hadn't bothered to tell her about the ring was that he'd enchanted it so as long as she had it on her, it would let him know if she was in trouble. He hadn't been able to put protection charms on it like she'd done to the amulet as she'd know immediately what it was, but he had managed to hide the one spell pretty well and he doubted she had any idea what the ring actually did.

"How was your summer?" she asked, stepping away from him and moving toward the sitting room couches. Draco frowned as he followed her over, sitting on the couch as well and moving so he was facing her. "That bad?" she asked. He shook his head.

"You don't know the half of it," he answered. She frowned and he turned the question back on her. Her face went blank and his hand wrapped around hers without his mind telling it to.

"I obliviated my parents as soon as I got home," she told him quietly, looking at the carpet as she spoke. "They were overwhelmed by the urge to move to Australia early June and I haven't seen them since. I spent the rest of the summer with Ginny at the Burrow."

"I'm sorry," Draco told her. She shook her head and wiped a hand across her face quickly.

"It's for the best," she replied and Draco knew she as right. If any of the Dark Lord's followers found out where she lived or who her parents were, nothing good was going to happen. They'd be targeted instantly and the best thing for them was to forget who she was and move far, far away. Nevertheless, Draco could tell how much doing so had hurt her and gently squeezed her hand.

"The Dark Lord has taken up permanent residence at Malfoy Manor," he told her. Her head snapped up and her eyes locked on his. "I didn't want to leave my room, his presence was so horrible. My father invites him to meals, of course, and my mother and I have to sit there and listen to them plot."

The room fell into silence as they sat in front of the fireplace. After several minutes, Hermione announced she was going to bed and gave Draco a tight hug. He stayed where he was, listening to her walk upstairs to her room and shut the door. He stayed in the sitting room for almost an hour after that just watching the fire burn and wondering what the year would bring. Eventually, he moved up to his room and got ready for bed even though he knew the nightmares wouldn't allow for a good sleep. He could at least try, though, and laid on the plush bed, staring up at the ceiling. When morning finally did come, he hadn't gotten any sleep at all and was dreading the time he would part with Hermione for the day. He could only hope she wouldn't do anything to upset the Carrows and could make it through the day unharmed.


	4. Chapter 4

The first week of school was the worst Hermione had ever had. The amount of homework was insane and Snape was making her Head Girl duties more difficult than necessary. If she hadn't heard from Dumbledore himself or the other members of the Order, she would have believed he was entirely for Voldemort's reign simply based on how he treated all the students who weren't in Slytherin. He had been vague in discussing her duties as Head Girl and she only knew about the Head's meeting with Snape on Saturday morning because Draco had been kind enough to wait for her in the dorm. 

Hermione had not been planning for the meeting and was completely unprepared. Luckily for her, Draco seemed to have the answer for every question Snape pointed her direction and Hermione was saved from the extra embarrassment. The second Snape dismissed her, she darted from his office and raced up to the seventh floor where Ginny had arranged for all members of the DA to meet fifteen minutes ago.

As soon as she stepped into the Room of Requirement, she was attacked with multiple hugs from Ginny, Neville, and a few of the younger students she felt bad for not remembering. When she could breathe again, she took a second to notice how worried everyone looked and glanced at Ginny.

"You're never late," she said in answer, "We thought something bad had happened to you."

"I had a Heads meeting Snape didn't tell me about," she told her, reassuring everyone she was fine. It was then she realised just how many students were in the Room. Surely not all of them had been in the DA last year, but she did recognise some as students from the year before. Apparently word had gotten out. She'd have to update the lip-locking list, but she could do that before everyone left, not before seeing how each class was doing.

"The Carrows hate me," a third year whimpered when she brought up the topic. She spotted the blue lining on the girl's robes and glanced at Luna. Luna gave her a warm smile and nodded, promising to check up on her after the meeting.

"Why would Professor Snape even allow Death Eaters to teach?" another student asked. Hermione didn't recognise him, so she committed his face to memory in order to ask him to sign the list.

"Because he's a Death Eater!"

Hermione had no hoping of stopping the outcry that sounded throughout the room after that. She allowed a second of yelling and worrying before silencing everyone with a wave of her wand. All eyes turned back to her.

"I know you're all scared," she said, looking across the sea of students. Merlin, how had Harry done this? It was terrifying to be the only hope these kids had. "Things are changing and this first week had been awful! Some of you remember the DA Harry led last year and some of you are new. Before I tell you what this is about, anyone who isn't prepared to defend themselves and others needs to leave right now. We'll understand, but you also need to know that you won't be alone if you do decide to stay."

She paused, waiting for people to move but no one did. When she was certain no one was going to leave, she conjured the lip-locking list that still held everyone's names from last year.

"Everyone will sign this," she said. She explained the purpose of it and why it was necessary. If anyone didn't sign it, they wouldn't be allowed back for more meetings. Levitating the paper around the room, the few new students that were there scrambled to write their name on the paper while she continued explaining they would meet every Saturday after lunch. She wasn't sure if the meeting with Snape would be an every week thing, but just in case it was, she wanted to make sure they weren't waiting for her.

"The Carrows are out for blood," Ginny murmured to her as the younger students finished signing the list and the older students chatted between themselves.

"I know," Hermione replied quietly. "I've seen it and I'm worried. They're itching to give detention and I don't want to think about what that entails."

"Has anyone gotten it yet?" Ginny asked, eyes wide. Hermione shook her head. Both of the Carrows had only threatened it so far, but she could see just how badly they wanted the students to mess up just to give them detention.

"I want you and Neville to check-in with the Gryffindor students throughout the week," Hermione told her, waving Luna and Neville over as she spoke. She relayed the same message to Neville and Luna, making sure Luna could find a Hufflepuff she trusted to keep an eye on the younger Hufflepuffs. "The Carrows are itching to give detention and the last thing I want is to see is young kids alone with them on the weekend."

"What should we do if they do get detention?" Luna asked. Hermione paused, not sure what they really could do. She promised to do some reading and come up with a solution before next week before dismissing the group with the understanding they were to meet next Saturday.

They let the students out a couple at a time so as to avoid suspicion and an hour later, Hermione was finally on her way to the library. The empty halls echoed her footsteps, but she hurried through them and to the library. When she finally reached it, she nodded quickly at Madam Pince and darted to a section where she was certain she'd find something to help with Luna's question.

After finding an armload of books she figured could be of use, she hurried through the halls back to the Heads dorm. She figured she could very well read them in the library, but she didn't want time to get away from her and discover it was late at night. Instead, she would read from the comfort and safety of her room with Draco nearby.

When she stepped into the dorm, Draco was hunched over on the couch, staring at the carpet in front of him. She paused, forgetting about the heavy door and jumping when it slammed shut. Draco jumped as well, looking up at her in surprise. He opened his mouth to say something but she beat him to it.

"I had a... thing," she explained weakly, lifting the books in her arms. He gave her a short smile and nodded as if that explained why she'd been gone for hours after the meeting with Snape. It was then she noticed something in his hands, a letter by the looks of it. She nodded to it and he covered it quickly. "Should I leave?" she asked. Draco looked like he wanted to say no, but he nodded.

"It's a Floo call," he said, gesturing to the firepit. "You should probably silence your room for the next hour or two."

"Alright," Hermione agreed. She gave Draco an encouraging smile before heading up to her room and doing as he said. As soon as she'd set her books down, she heard the whoosh of the fire pit and a shrill voice greeting Draco. Before she could eavesdrop longer, she cast the charm and her room went silent.

She settled on her bed, trying not to worry about the Floor call and if Draco was possibly letting more Death Eaters into Hogwarts. She doubted Snape would allow that, but clearly the Floo was available in the Head's dormitory. Originally, she'd thought only the teachers' offices allowed that, so either the Head's dorm was an exception or Snape had changed it specifically for Draco during the year. Choosing to stop focusing on the Floo she couldn't hear, she opened her first book and began reading quickly. If she couldn't figure out a sure-fire protection method for the younger students before one of them got detention, she didn't think she'd ever forgive herself.

For a moment in the library, she thought about making all of them protection amulets like she had for Draco, but that would take too long and was much to detectable. She needed an undetectable way to protect them without involving more people than necessary. Unfortunately, most of what she was reading didn't make it sound like that was possible. In fact, it sounded like what she wanted wasn't possible at all and as she reached for her third book late that night, she wondered if the Malfoy Manor had books on the subject. 

She was halfway through the first paragraph of the third book when she found exactly what she needed. Well, it wasn't exactly what she wanted, but it was much closer than anything else and she felt giddy with the idea. She flipped to the page it said had more information and eagerly read it. When she read what the downsides were, she felt her heart drop.

In theory, she could cast the spell on all the younger students, but it would need to be connected to an older student as well. Any harm inflicted upon the younger would be inflicted on the older one. At first, it would appear the harm was affecting the first person, but all scarring, pain, and fear would be felt by the older one.

Despite how horrible it sounded, Hermione kept the information tucked away in her head. Maybe she could trick the spell into accepting an inanimate object or a mouse as the receiver of the harm instead of another student. She would only consider the option again if nothing else became an option and she had two and a half more books to look through. She could wait and finish the rest of her research before jumping on the only idea she had so far.


	5. Chapter 5

Draco hadn't really been surprised to see Hermione with an armload of books, but he had been surprised when she did exactly what he told her to. Aunt Bella was ruthless and would no doubt say horrid things about Hermione if she knew she could hear. When the Floo lit up and both Aunt Bella's and his father's heads appeared in front of him, he was double glad he'd sent her away. His father was sure to make him check for listening ears and after showing him there was no one listening, the real talk began.

"What's the update on Potter?" his father demanded without much preamble. Draco refused to be upset with his father for getting down to business.

"I don't have one," Draco grumbled. He should have known that's all his father would want from him. At the very least he could have asked Hermione if she'd been in touch with her friends. Then he'd have a better answer than the one he'd just given his father.

As expected, Lucius Malfoy was visibly disappointed. Aunt Bella at least pretended she wasn't disgusted, but his father couldn't have cared less. Draco waited for his father to scold him and give him a speech on making the Dark Lord proud, but it didn't come. Instead, there were several seconds of silence where Draco stared at his irritated father and Aunt Bella.

"Why?" Lucius finally asked. Draco narrowed his eyes and Lucius pursed his lips. "Why do you not have an update?"

Draco hardly resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His father hadn't honestly expected an update this early on, had he? Even Lucius Malfoy himself wouldn't have been able to get someone to trust him so quickly. Of course, there was that little tidbit about him and Hermione being very close, but his father didn't know that. Not even his mother knew the true extent of their relationship and how Draco's feelings were quickly developing.

"She'd a Mudblood, Father," Draco hissed, spitting the word as he said it. His father's lips twitched but he hid his anger well. "It's not easy for her to trust me after last year's mission."

"She doesn't have to trust you, Draco, darling," Aunt Bella chimed in. Draco glanced at her, already not liking what she was about to suggest. She wiggled her eyebrows and said, "She just has to _want_ you."

"If you think I'm going to allow my son to _defile_ himself," Lucius spit, "With a Mudblood, then you are very mistaken."

Draco sighed as his father and Aunt Bella bickered for a minute about the importance of his mission and how he needed to be ready for anything. Clearly, neither of them cared what he thought which Draco figured was just as well. He would never give them an honest opinion and he pretty much intended to _not_ do what they suggested, but they could at least have enough decency not to argue about him in front of him.

"How's Mother?" Draco asked, promptly ignored by both. With a sigh, he got up from the couch and wandered up the stairs. He thought about checking on Hermione, but the last thing he wanted was for his father or Aunt Bella to know she was in the dorm. Instead, he walked into his bedroom and grabbed a book for Transfiguration. He took it back into the living room with him and was unsurprised to see neither of the heads in the fireplace had noticed his absence.

Rather than try and get their attention, he opened his Transfiguration book and read ahead in it. He was two chapters in when he was snapped out of his own world by his father's voice demanding his attention.

"Yes?" he drawled, setting aside the book. His father scowled at him fiercely but Draco was unaffected at this point. Seventeen years of the same look lost its touch at some point and Draco had stopped caring for his father's opinion a year or two ago.

"Do you even care that the Dark Lord has chosen you?" Lucius growled. If Draco was honest (and he wasn't going to be), he did care quite a lot. In fact, he wished the git hadn't chosen him at all and instead left him to finish his year at Hogwarts without another mission. Last year had been hell and while this year's mission was something he could easily fake, he still hated the thought. Luckily, it was fairly reasonable to believe Hermione wouldn't write to Potter or Weasley, but he couldn't very well say that.

"I just think it's unreasonable to expect such progress only a week in," Draco replied, leaning back against the couch and letting his mind wander when his father finally went off into a speech.

He should write to his mother this week. There was no way for the letter to get to her without being read by at least his father. Maybe he could invite her out to Hogsmeade the next week under the excuse of missing her. They could meet in private and he could ask her all the questions that came up when he was with Hermione. Of course, he would also ask how they were treating her at home and prepare to slaughter his father if anything bad was happening. He could ignore the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord roaming the Manor when he was home, but if anyone was hurting his mother, he would slaughter everyone.

"Draco, dearest!" Aunt Bella cheered, pulling him from his thoughts. He lazily turned his attention back to the fireplace, already wanting this to be over. At least this time he'd successfully drowned out his father's lecture.

"Yes, Aunt Bella?"

"I know you're trying your hardest, but do keep in mind the Dark Lord is relying on you," she said, giving him a knowing look. Draco stared back at her blankly. At least when using the Floo, she couldn't try and pry through his mind. That's not to say he'd ever let her, but Bellatrix was a very skilled Legilimens and would know lies when he pulled them forward for her.

"Yes, Aunt Bella," Draco responded dutifully. His father rolled his eyes and Draco smirked at the reaction. "I promise I'll have a better report next time."

"I'll hold you to it, darling," Aunt Bella said, her voice no longer light and airy. She gave him a stern, heavy look then said goodbye and pulled her head from the Floo. Draco expected his father to leave as well, but he didn't. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Draco broke the silence and asked, "How's Mother?"

"She's fine," Lucius answered vaguely. Draco frowned and his eyes narrowed at his father. When he was younger, he would have easily believed his father was telling the truth and acting out of love, but now he had doubts. Perhaps his father was too blind to see his zealous pursuit of the Dark Lord was hurting Draco and his mother.

"I'm sure you'll understand why I don't believe that," Draco sneered. Lucius glared at him. 

"Everything I do, I do for you and her, Draco," he replied. Draco scoffed and his father tried to repeat it, but Draco cut him off.

"I don't care why you think you do things," he snapped, glaring back at his father. Lucius fumed when Draco interrupted him and tried to start over, but Draco interrupted him again with a fierce look. "I'm asking her to come out next week and if there's even a bruise, I swear I will tear you apart." 

Lucius sighed in irritation and looked at Draco. He refused to let his father's gaze affect him, standing to grab his book and end the Floor call.

"I do love you both, Draco," Lucius said quietly. Draco scoffed and his father sent him a pained look Draco tried very hard to ignore. "I know you may not see it right now, but I want nothing more than the best for you."

"Goodbye, Father," Draco said, casting a water charm on the fire and effectively getting rid of his father.

The silence of the room echoed in his ears and he found himself dropped back onto the couch. With a groan, he buried his face in his hands and tried very hard not to focus on the last bit of their conversation. His father may have loved him when he was younger, but welcoming the Dark Lord into their home was not something he'd done out of love for his family. It was an act of love toward power and Draco hated how his father thought the two were the same.

He wiped the few angry tears that formed from his eyes and grabbed his book again. On his way to his room, he stopped in front of Hermione's door. The _silencio_ charm she'd cast was working flawlessly as he couldn't hear a sound coming from her room. Then again, if she was reading, he doubted she was making any sound at all.

Despite wanting to tell her about the meeting with his father and Aunt Bella, he continued on to his room. He shut the door tightly behind him and tossed his Transfiguration book on his bed. His parchment and quill were sitting on his desk, tempting him to write to his mother immediately and he didn't even try to fight the urge. He dropped down to his desk and immediately started his letter. He needed to keep it short and casual, but that wasn't hard to do after years of writing vague letters to Hermione.

_Mother,_

_It has come to my attention after my meeting with Father just how much I miss you. If you are able and willing, I would love to meet with you in Hogsmeade next Saturday at noon. Please write soon._

_Love,_

_Draco_

After it was finished, he wandered up to the owlery to send the letter with his own great white owl. The halls were empty and it gave Draco an uneasy feeling even though he knew he wouldn't be attacked. Of everyone at school, he was the least likely to be harmed by the Carrows or his fellow housemates. As he passed a terrified third year, however, he wished the protection extended to all students.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione hadn't meant to do be late to DADA. She'd gotten up early just to double-check her essay and finish breakfast early. Unfortunately, a first-year had been too frightened to walk through the dungeons to potions, telling her a third-year Slytherin had bullied her all the last week. Hermione hadn't thought twice before walking the young girl to class and glaring at the bully the girl pointed at. By the time she'd checked the time, she knew she was going to be late to the other Carrow's class. She'd sprinted anyway, arriving just in time for Amycus Carrow to glare at her so fiercely she felt like withering up.

"That's detention, Granger," he said, grinning like the idea of spending three hours on Saturday with her was the greatest thing he'd ever heard of. For a moment, she worried it was. "Find your seat, Mudblood," he snarled. A few of her classmates sucked in a breath, but Hermione ignored the jab and took her usual seat in the middle of the classroom and laid out her books.

After that, it only got worse.

Amycus seemed to have it out for her the whole morning and Hermione found herself narrowly dodging more detention punishments. Thankfully, the rest of the class seemed more than ready to defend her and jumped to her aid whenever Amycus directed a particularly pointed statement at her.

When DADA was finally and she'd learned more than she ever wanted to about "Mudbloods and the history with dark magic", she was almost too exhausted for Arithmancy. It was one of only two periods she shared with Draco and she knew she could easily get the assignment from him if she skipped, but the last thing she wanted was for him to worry about her all class. He knew she had a Carrow class right beforehand, so to not show up would probably send him into a panic. With a sigh, she turned to walk to the Arithmancy classroom.

The classroom has already half full when she arrived and one of the other students had stolen her usual seat. Trying not to be too annoyed, she spotted Draco in the back corner and made her way toward him. She knew he didn't have a table partner as no one wanted to be around him after the Dumbledore rumour so she didn't feel bad about dropping her book bag on the table and falling into the seat beside him.

"You look miserable," Draco muttered, pulling a parchment out for notes. Hermione just groaned and copied him.

"I'll tell you all about it later," she promised. During class was not the best time to talk about her detention with Amycus Carrow as she was sure it would not brighten either of their moods.

When Arithmancy ended and her next thing was lunch, she took the time to retreat up to her room and switch out her books. She grabbed a granola bar from her closet and wandered to her next class, skimming over one of the books she'd grabbed from the library. So far, she hadn't had much luck in finding a different solution to the detention problem for younger students and now she wouldn't have spare time on Saturday to keep researching.

She was almost to the end of the hallway when she ran smack into someone much taller than her. She stumbled backward, catching herself right before she hit the ground and looked up to see Blaise Zabini looking at her curiously.

"Is Draco in his dorm?" Blaise asked, not seeming to care if she was alright. Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I haven't seen him since last class," she answered. She stepped around Blaise but he reached out and grabbed her arm, effectively stopping her from moving forward. She took a deep breath to keep herself from getting angry but didn't look at him.

"I told him before being friends with you is a huge risk," he said quietly. Hermione's eyes darted up to make sure no one else was in the hallway. This was definitely not a conversation she expected to have with Zabini and it wasn't one that should occur in a hallway.

"Believe me, it's his choice," Hermione muttered, "I haven't forced him into it."

"Oh, I know," Blaise replied. She looked up at him and there was a tense moment of silence. Blaise dropped her arm and looked away as he said, "I know he cares for you and that you care for him, but some things are too dangerous."

"He should be the one to decide that, don't you think?" Hermione scowled. With that, she continued her trek across the school and down to the dungeons for potions that would hopefully go better than DADA.

Unfortunately for Hermione, Amycus must have told his sister about giving detention to Hermione in the morning because as soon as she walked into the classroom, Alecto's face lit up and she could tell she was in for it.

Somehow, Hermione managed to make it all the way through potions without getting more detention. She hurried through the rest of her classes and dinner, managing to avoid most of Ginny's questions about her day and if she'd made any progress in her research. If Ginny knew something was wrong, she didn't press for answers.

Rather than going to Gryffindor tower for the evening, she went back to her own dorm and spread out her homework on the table downstairs. She was determined to get everything done before her detention on Saturday and in order to do that, she'd need to keep up with it as it came. Thankfully she didn't have much aside from yet another essay in potions and three long problems in Arithmancy. She'd done the DADA reading and written a bland report on how she felt muggle-borns affected the evolution of dark magic. She knew Amycus would hate it, but he would hate anything that didn't directly say muggle-borns were worthless and dark magic was a lost art all should know and be experienced in.

She was halfway through the reading for the potions essay when Draco walked into the dorm. He paused when he saw her at the table, then redirected his route from the sitting room to the table. As he dropped into the seat beside her, she was suddenly reminded of the fact she'd promised to tell him what was wrong in Arithmancy.

"How was your day?" he asked, fingering the edge of her potions book. She paused what she was doing to think for a second. How much was she going to tell him? It wouldn't hurt to tell him the whole thing, but she also didn't want word to spread across the entire school she'd been the first student to get detention with one of the Carrows. She doubted Draco would tell anyone, however, and decided to just tell him the truth.

"Amycus Carrow gave me detention," she said bluntly. His eyes flew open and she figured the way he grabbed her hand was an unconscious thing. She immediately began to ramble. "It's only three hours and I'm already working on a way to keep the younger students from getting hurt, so really now I'll be able to know exactly what to expect which is good—"

"It's not and you know it," Draco said. Hermione looked at him, a little shocked by how much worry she found on his face.

"Draco, it'll be okay," she said softly, covering his hand with her free one. He blinked down at their hands, seeming to only just then realise he'd reached for her. "I can handle whatever he throws at me and once it's done, I'll know what to expect for the younger kids."

"You have no clue what the Carrows are capable of," Draco hissed. She squeezed his hand and he looked away, glaring at the wall behind her. "They're horrible people and they're not going to change just because they work at a school now."

"I can handle them," she repeated, looking at him earnestly. She needed him to know she wasn't worried about them and he shouldn't worry so much about her. Knowing he was worried about her did make her feel warm inside, but she was trying to ignore that because it was clearly killing him.

"You don't know what they'll do," Draco repeated after her. His voice cracked at the end and Hermione felt her heart break. He finally looked back at her and she decided not to point out his eyes were glistening. It was then she finally remembered he'd spent all summer around these Death Eaters and he was likely to know just how the Carrows acted when left to their own whims.

"You can't keep them from giving me detention all year," she said softly, pulling herself forward to hug him. Her arms wrapped around his neck gently and she felt his arms curl around her much tighter. She didn't mind, however, and found herself rather enjoying how desperate he seemed to hug her.

"I can try," he grumbled into her shoulder. Hermione smiled and when she pulled away from him, she offered up her completed Arithmancy work for him to check for mistakes. He allowed the distraction but kept one hand in hers as she returned to her essay and he checked over her answers.

When the clock chimed one time and Hermione looked up to see Draco actually sleeping on her Arithmancy paper, she decided it was time to pack up her books and go to bed. With a feather touch spell, she slipped the parchment from under Draco's head and levitated her research books to her room. After making sure her book bag was ready for the next morning, she poked Draco gently. He hummed but didn't open his eyes.

"You should go to your room," Hermione said. He grunted. "It's one in the morning, Draco. You need to sleep in your bed."

"Fine," he grumbled. She helped him to his feet and he stumbled up the stairs beside her. She walked all the way to his bedroom with him, waiting for him to safely pass out on his bed before going back to her own room and falling asleep as well.


	7. Chapter 7

All Friday night, Draco tried not to think about how Hermione would be spending part of the next day at the mercy of Amycus Carrow. He considered sending a letter to his mother and calling off their day at Hogsmeade just so he could try and argue Amycus out of whatever he was planning, but ended up deciding against it. His homework was left alone only because he didn't want to do it, not because he was too worried to think straight. 

"Can I borrow your Arithmancy work?" Hermione asked, snapping Draco out of his state. He blinked before realising he'd been staring at his potions book and gotten nothing done, let alone Arithmancy.

"I haven't done it yet," he muttered, flipping through his potions book and trying desperately to remember what he'd been reading. He could feel Hermione watching him, but he refused to look up. 

"I know," she replied. This time he did look up to see an amused smirk on her face. "You've been staring at your potions book for almost thirty minutes and I'm afraid the poor thing is going to combust."

Well, Draco thought, if it did, he'd have a valid excuse for not doing it. Unfortunately, the potions book didn't seem to care and did not spontaneously explode in front of him. He could feel Hermione still watching him, but now he was forcing himself to finish at least one homework assignment before he went to bed, so he didn't look up. After a few more seconds, Hermione returned to her own work and the room fell back into a comfortable silence.

Unsurprisingly, Hermione finished all her homework first. Even after Draco started focusing on the assignments and not on the horrible thoughts running through his head, he was only halfway finished. He tried not to get distracted by watching her out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't help himself. When she had all her work gathered, she disappeared from the table and went upstairs to her room. Draco sighed, but at least now he didn't have any distractions and could finish his work. That's not to say Hermione was a bad distraction; he rather preferred her to Crabbe or Goyle's pathetic jokes. She was a much better study partner than any of his other friends, but she was just as much of a distraction.

Three hours later, Draco was only just finishing his homework and beginning to pack up his things. He would have left his books and parchment scattered across the table, but he knew Hermione would frown at it and his mother would be visiting in the morning, so he took a little extra time to make sure the room was flawless.

Once he'd made it to his room, he got changed for bed and pulled out the letter from his mother to re-read. He'd already read through it several times, but he couldn't stop himself from reading it again. Even though it was short, he wanted to be certain there weren't any hidden messages he should know about before she arrived. Of course, he doubted there would be and would just have to wait for an honest update in the morning, but he was too anxious to sleep at this point.

Even after putting the letter away and counting goblins, he found himself staring at the ceiling as his mind wandered. It wouldn't be the first time he had been unable to sleep. During the summer, he'd found himself awake at night more often than not. Then, he could apparate to Blaise's house that held considerably fewer Death Eaters (his parents were the only ones, the lucky bastard). Now, though, he was stuck in the castle and couldn't apparate anywhere.

At some point, he must have fallen asleep thinking about Death Eaters and summer break because he found himself waking up to someone knocking on his door. The sun was streaming through the window and he had to blink several times before he was awake enough to get up and open the door. Hermione stood on the other side and looked terribly uncomfortable.

"Your mother's here," she told him, rubbing one arm as she said so. Draco glanced behind her to see his mother looking around the sitting room.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily. Surely it couldn't be that late, but when she said it was nearly 9:30 AM, his eyes flew open. "Give me five minutes," he said before shutting the door in her face.

He ran between his closet and bathroom as quickly as he could, muttering spells to make his bed and fix his hair as he got dressed. A quick look in the mirror told him he'd need a freshening up spell. When he was finally certain he looked presentable, he grabbed his cloak and headed downstairs to meet his mother.

He wasn't quite sure what he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't Hermione smiling at something his mother said and his mother looking just as amused. Despite it being mid-morning, Hermione was only wearing her dressing gown and had her hair in a braid. Clearly, he hadn't been the only one still sleeping when his mother arrived, but he felt bad that she had to be the one to greet her. It didn't look like his mother cared much, though. In fact, it looked like she was rather enjoying whatever she and Hermione were talking about.

"Draco!" his mother exclaimed, drawing Hermione's attention his way as well. His mother broke away from Hermione to wrap him in a warm hug. As soon as her arms were around him, Draco couldn't help but smile. He really had missed his mother and her hugs.

"Hello, Mother," he said, pulling away and kissing her cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't ready earlier; I suppose I forgot an alarm."

"I'll forgive you this time," she said, smiling up at him. She turned back to look at Hermione then told Draco, "We were just talking about school. And you, of course."

"Oh, great," Draco muttered, imagining all the things his mother could have told Hermione. With any luck, they wouldn't have had enough time to get to any of the truly embarrassing stories, but Narcissa Malfoy had yet to disappoint so Draco couldn't be certain.

"Your mother offered to let me borrow some more books for some research I'm doing," Hermione said with a grin. Draco raised an eyebrow at his mother, not sure if it was the best idea given current residents at the Manor.

"Yes, of course," his mother said, smiling back at her. "Just write up a list and when I return this afternoon, I can take it with me. I can't guarantee when they'll get to you, but I will try."

"Perhaps you two should go to Hogsmeade without me," Draco suggested teasingly. His mother shot him a look as Hermione quickly shook her head. 

"No, you two go ahead," she said, adjusting her dressing gown. "I have some things here and I've kept you long enough."

"Nonsense," Narcissa said. She smiled at Hermione as she looped her arm through Draco's. "We'll talk more later, sweetheart. Have a wonderful day!"

"You too," Hermione replied. Draco's heart plummeted as he realised the "things" she was talking about was detention with Amycus Carrow, but his mother was throwing a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace and calling for an address in Hogsmeade before he could pull back.

When he stepped out of the Floo and looked up at his mother, she was smiling and already leading him out of the old house. Draco didn't recognise the place, but his mother seemed to feel comfortable in it so he didn't ask questions. Just down the road, he could see the small town of Hogsmeade and happily took his mother's arm in his as they walked. He was glad for his cloak as the wind was chilly, something he had anticipated with it being autumn.

"Hermione seems very sweet," his mother said nonchalantly. He glanced at her. "I can see why you've chosen to remain friends with her despite your father's opinions."

Draco's face darkened at the thought of his father and what he would say about his friendship with Hermione. Before he could think too long on it, however, his mother patted his arm and drew his focus back to the current moment. He couldn't help but sigh even as he tried to hold it back.

"She has detention with Amycus Carrow this afternoon," he muttered, kicking at a leaf. From the corner of his eye, he saw his mother's face snap up to look at him and he could already imagine the horrified look on her face. "She isn't worried—or at least she says she isn't—but she doesn't know what he's capable of."

There was a tense silence before his mother asked, "Does he knew who she is?"

"I'm afraid so," Draco murmured. His mother's hand tightened around his arm, but Draco didn't want her to let go. His mother may not know Hermione like he did, but it was nice to have someone else worrying for her in a morbid sort of way. At least now he wouldn't be the only one with preoccupied thoughts throughout the day.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione hated the worried looks she received as soon as she stepped into the Room of Requirement. Ginny and Luna were the only ones there so far and she knew Neville was on his way, but clearly word of her upcoming detention had spread. Ginny was really the only one looking at her like someone was about to die, but Luna looked concerned as well. Not a word had to be said for her to know they wanted her to hide away until well after Amycus Carrow could drag her to detention.

"Hermione—"

"Ginny, I'm going to be fine," she said, cutting Ginny off before she could say anything more.

Ginny looked horribly distraught as she moved forward to grab Hermione's hands. Hermione sighed and pulled her into a hug. Ginny had always been very tactile and Hermione knew how much hugs helped her feel better, but if she was truly honest, the hug wasn't just for Ginny.

"My father says 'bravery in a time of trouble is the strongest kind'," Luna said, smiling warmly at Hermione. She smiled back as she let go of Ginny, choosing to ignore the way her friend wiped at her face.

"Are you sure the DA should still meet?" Ginny asked.

Hermione was and she hadn't let Ginny try and talk her out of it earlier in the week. As soon as she'd known, the youngest Weasley had asked several times if they wanted to postpone the DA's meeting, but Hermione had asked her to spread the word it would meet right after breakfast instead. She wasn't sure when Amycus would want her to report for detention, but she was worried it would be right when the DA planned to meet. After asking at breakfast and discovering she'd been correct to worry about the conflicting times, she was relieved she'd worked all week making sure everyone knew about the updated time. Now they just had to wait for the rest of the students to arrive so they could begin. In the meantime, she, Ginny, and Luna talked through what they would work on with the DA that day and prepare for it.

Hermione supposed she should have expected several of the students to ask her about her detention but after the third person, she was really rather annoyed. Somehow, Luna managed to inform everyone else not to ask her about it because after snapping at a small fourth-year, no one said anything.

They spent the first hour reviewing things Harry had taught them last year. For new students, this meant Hermione and Ginny pulled them aside to teach them some of the spells while Luna and Neville monitored the rest of the students. By the end of the two hour meeting, most of the new students at least knew the spells, though they weren't all good at them, and the returning ones felt confident enough to offer to help teach the next week. After a quick discussion with Neville, Luna, and Ginny, they told the new students there would be extra meetings on Tuesday and Thursday just to help them get better at the spells and be more prepared for the next Saturday meeting.

"We'll figure out a better way to communicate meetings," Hermione said, remembering the coin from last year. She didn't want to do the same sort of communication method just in case someone from last year knew, but it had been a very good idea. "In case we need to plan an emergency meeting, we'll come up with a way to contact you between now and next Saturday. For now, we'll plan on Tuesday and Thursday for those of you new to the DA or those who want extra practice. Saturday's practice will be after breakfast again unless you hear otherwise."

"Also," Neville cut in, looking at Hermione for permission. She smiled and nodded, mentally reminding herself to let him know later that he had just as much control over the class as she did and he didn't need to look to her for permission. "If you know anyone else who might be interested, bring them on Saturday. Obviously, you can't tell them what we do, but let them know there's a study group that meets to learn about defense magic and if they're interested, invite them along." 

Once Hermione was sure neither Luna nor Ginny had anything to add, she had the group start getting ready to leave in small groups like they had the week before. It took just as long to get everyone out and by the time Hermione and Ginny were leaving, lunch was nearly finished. They barely managed to grab a few bread rolls and a plate of food before it all disappeared and the Great Hall began emptying out. When the clock chimed one, Hermione scrambled from the table, bread roll in hand, and hurried through the castle to Amycus Carrow's classroom. She hadn't eaten nearly as much as she'd wanted to, but her nerves made it difficult to stomach anything and the two bread rolls she'd eaten were currently more than enough.

"Welcome, Miss Granger," Amycus said as soon as she'd stepped into the classroom.

He flicked his wrist and the door slammed shut behind her. She tried to ignore the lock clicking into place, but the hungry stare Amycus was giving her wasn't helping. The urge to grab the door handle and run was almost overwhelming, but she knew she couldn't do such a thing. Instead, she took a deep breath and moved further into the classroom, smiling warmly at him.

"Hi, Professor Carrow," she greeted. She looked around the room, trying to see if there was something she could offer to clean. Maybe if she cleaned the classroom and did his own personal chores, he would think she'd been punished enough. "What would you like me to do first? I know Headmaster Snape has been eyeing the dirty trophy rack recently if that's what you have in mind. I can also organise and sort through the old defense books."

Amycus did not look amused, but he did let her finish her rambling. She half expected him to interject or curse her for assuming what he wanted her to do, but he didn't. Instead, he let the room fall into a horrible silence as he stared at her gleefully.

"Are you familiar with much dark magic, Miss Granger?" he asked calmly.Hermione wanted to say 'no' and hope he would give her a book to read, but she also wondered if saying 'yes' could convince him she didn't need an extra lesson on it. She doubted private lessons on dark magic would be anything less than miserable.

"I've encountered it before," she said, deciding that seemed like a safe middle ground. She didn't want to elaborate, but Amycus Carrow didn't seem like the type to enjoy stories.

"You have?" he mused, looking at her doubtfully. He opened a book nearby, flipping through the pages as he stood from his desk. "I doubt it's been anything useful, hm?" He hummed, walking toward her as he continued scanning the book for whatever he was searching for. "Tell me: are you familiar with true dark magic or just the petty things you read about these days?"

Hermione was certainly not sure how to respond to that and clearly her hesitance was not appreciated. Before she could fully process what was happening, Amycus turned his wand at her and snarled, " _Crucio_."

Unbearabke pain flooded her body. Her skin burned and seared so painfully she struggled to contain a scream. Her lungs seemed to be caving in as she choked on her breath and what felt like a sea urchin took up residence in her chest. Every muscle in her body tensed and tensed until she feared she'd shrink. It had to be impossible for her body to contract like this and still be alright. Maybe she wasn't alright and when the pain finally stopped, she would discover she was no more than a meter tall.

It lasted forever and pain in her body only got worse before disappearing all at once. By the time she felt like she could breathe again, she was certain hours had passed. A shrill laugh to her left made her flinch, sending her into another bout of pain as her sore muscles tensed again. She was panting and could feel tears streaming down her face, but the pain was all she could focus on. She could be in front of hundreds of thousands of people and she wouldn't care how she looked. She couldn't. Not with how sore she was and how every breath she took sent knives through her lungs.

"Did you enjoy that, Mudblood?" a voice sneered above her. Everything was blurry, but she could vaguely make out the silhouette of someone looming over her.

Another sob wracked her body and she gasped in pain. She was just barely aware of the voice saying something about true dark magic before the pain started itself all over again and she was screaming louder than she'd ever screamed before. Maybe this time the pain would kill her and she could be in peace. At the very least, she longed to fall unconscious and be spared from it just long enough to catch her breath. She didn't get her wish until the third wave of crippling pain hit her and she found herself spiraling toward a black hole that promised peace.


	9. Chapter 9

Draco fidgeted all day. He didn't know when Hermione was supposed to meet Amycus for her detention, but he couldn't relax. Even when his mother bought him Firewhiskey instead of Butterbeer in an attempt to help, his thoughts continued to wander. When lunch came around and he still couldn't focus, she suggested they return to the castle and end their time together.

"No, I'm fine," he insisted. His mother gave him a disbelieving look and pulled him in the direction they'd come into town from.

"You're restless, Draco," she said, rubbing his arm in an attempt to soothe him. He appreciated the act, but it did nothing. "It is reasonable to worry about those you love."

Draco's head turned to look at her so fast his vision blurred for a second. His mother just gave him a knowing smile as he spluttered, trying to explain he wasn't in love with Hermione, they were just friends. It was also very reasonable to worry about friends so much and honestly, Mother, if Blaise was an innocent in the hands of Amycus Carrow, he'd worry about him too.

"I'm sure you would," she agreed, "But it's a different worry."

"That's cause Blaise is a git," he muttered. His mother sent him a look and he shook his head. "Trust me, Mother. There is nothing going on between me and Hermione right now."

"Alright," she ceded, though Draco could tell she wasn't fully convinced. At least she had dropped the subject for now. He had no doubt it would arise again in the future, but it wasn't a safe conversation to have in public and despite what she may have thought, it wasn't helping him calm down any more than the other conversation topics had.

When they finally returned to the little house they had Floo'd to, Narcissa handed Draco a handful of Floo powder. She wasn't returning to the castle as there seemed to be no point to it, but she could at least wish him well from the privacy of a run-down house. Later, when Draco wasn't as worried about Hermione, he would ask about its history and how she'd come to find it. For now, though, he would stow away his questions and hug his mother.

"The books for Hermione," she said as he pulled away. He was suddenly reminded of the conversation earlier that morning and smiled.

"I'll send the list," he promised. She nodded and kissed his cheek. "I assume you have a way to get through Father."

"Of course, dear," she replied with a sparkle in her eye. "When you receive a package later this week, not all of it will be for you despite the letter."

"Should I worry about being replaced?" Draco teased. His mother laughed and shook her head, promising him no one could ever replace him. Draco smiled and hugged her one more time. "You promise you're alright at home? Safe?"

"I promise, Draco," she said softly. He knew there were things she wasn't telling him, but he'd spent the morning watching the way she spoke and moved and couldn't find anything wrong. If his father was allowing her to be harmed, it wasn't physical and he could be reassured by that in the very least.

After making sure she knew to write to him if anything at home changed, he lit the fireplace with his wand and tossed in the Floo powder. He made sure to specify the Head's dorm as he called for Hogwarts, not wanting to end up in someone's office or crash one of Severus's meetings. With a final smile and wave to his mother, he stepped into the fireplace and tucked in his arms as he spun into his dorm.

He had barely gotten his bearings when the door opened and Hermione stumbled into the dorm. All thoughts of his mother and the things he needed to do flew from his mind as Hermione collapsed in the doorway and groaned. He raced over to her, checking her pulse first, then gathered her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way into the dorm. He used magic to close and lock the door as he set her gently on the couch and knelt beside her.

"Hermione, talk to me," he said, putting one hand on her neck to reassure himself she was breathing. Her face was stained with tears and her breathing was ragged, but she was still conscious and alive.

"...hurt..." she groaned, arching away from the couch cushions and breaking down into more tears. She gasped, shaking her head as her body dropped back onto the cushions.

"What hurts? What can I do?" he asked, trying desperately to help and hoping the little he was touching her wasn't the source of her pain.

She didn't answer, continuing to sob and moan on the couch for several minutes. At some point, Draco realised there were tears in his own eyes as he clutched her hand tightly and dropped his head onto her stomach. The room filled with her cries and Draco was stuck with nothing to do but listen. Without knowing what Amycus had done to her, he couldn't help. He doubted he'd be able to anyway as there didn't appear to be any physical damage and whatever Hermione was experiencing left her in too much pain to talk.

"Draco?"

His head moved from her stomach to look at her. Her voice was hoarse and Draco didn't want to think about how it was likely from her screaming. Her fingers twitched in his hand but he didn't let her go. Keeping hold of her kept him grounded and unlikely to storm the halls of Hogwarts solely so he could find and kill Amycus Carrow.

"Hi," he said weakly, reaching up to wipe the tears from his face then gently brush away hers. She leaned into his touch and he paused, keeping his hand on her face and gently running his thumb across her cheek. "What did he do to you?" he asked before he could stop himself. He knew the question would have come up sooner or later, but he suddenly doubted she wanted to talk about it right then.

"You wouldn't like my answer," she murmured. Draco had figured as much, but hearing her say it only made his mind race. As if she'd sensed the morbid thoughts coursing through his head, she closed her eyes and said, "He used the _cruciatus_ curse."

"He—" Draco choked on his own words as new tears sprang into his eyes. Again, her fingers twitched in his hand, this time brushing against his face softly and he looked up at her. "I shouldn't have left," he said, shaking his head and mentally berating himself. "I should have stayed and convinced him not to hurt you."

"You couldn't have done anything without suspicion," she muttered. Her free hand shook as she reached toward his face. He tried not to frown at how weak she clearly was, but he knew she noticed. As her hand draped around his neck, he leaned down to press his forehead to hers, hoping that maybe then she could understand how horrible he felt and maybe untangle all the other emotions he was feeling.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he whispered. She just breathed in response and Draco hadn't thought he'd ever find the motion so relaxing. At least Amycus hadn't hurt her beyond repair. She was still breathing and had managed to drag herself from his classroom to their dorm. If she had been found unconscious in a hallway, he probably would have lost his mind.

As Hermione's hand fell from his neck and she took a shaky breath, Draco suddenly wondered just how many times she'd been hit with the _cruciatus_ curse. He'd seen people suffer it first hand, but her body was still trembling and he knew Amycus wasn't the type to curse someone once and be done with things.

Before he asked her, however, he remembered how she'd said he wouldn't want to know and kept quiet. He wasn't sure he could handle the news if she admitted receiving the curse more than once and he was almost certain the number would be at least three.

"I should take you to see Madam Pomfrey," Draco murmured, pulling his forehead away from hers to scan over her body again. Hermione's eyes opened slowly before she shook her head. Draco was about to insist, but she interrupted.

"What could she do?" she asked. Madam Pomfrey could heal physical wounds. The _cruciatus_ curse didn't leave physical marks. A pain potion might help for a little while, but it couldn't do anything his own stash of potions couldn't and if Draco were entirely honest, he didn't want her to spend the night in the infirmary. In fact, he didn't even want her to spend the night in her own room where he couldn't make certain she was still breathing and safe. Speaking of safe, why hadn't the charm in her ring alerted him to her pain?

"Where's the ring I gave you?" he asked, hoping she was too out of it to wonder what he meant.

"My nightstand," she muttered, eyes closed as she laid on the couch. "Forgot it on my way to the DA."

Draco decided not to ask what the 'DA' was as she probably didn't want him to know and wasn't aware enough to stop herself from telling him. Instead, he found himself glancing up to her room and summoning the ring. It appeared in front of him and he slipped the necklace around her neck.

"Never take it off again," he said. She gave him a weak smile and nodded, eyes still closed. As he glanced at the clock, he knew it was too early for bed, but he knew neither of them would do anything else for the remainder of the evening. Hermione was already almost asleep, still holding his hand tightly, so he carefully slipped his hand from hers in order to try and pick her up.

"No!" she gasped, grabbing his hand again as her eyes flew open. Draco leaned back over her, brushing hair back from her face as she looked up at him in terror. "Don't leave," she whispered.

"I won't; I promise," he replied. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he pulled his hand from hers and gently slipped his arms under her.

Very carefully, he lifted her from the couch and carried her up the stairs to his room. If she had any objections, she didn't voice them. Instead, she wrapped one hand around his back and watched quietly as he opened his door with a flick of his wrist and carried her over to his bed. His blankets pulled back as he set Hermione on the bed and turned on the lamp sitting on his nightstand.

"Are you sure I won't bother you here?" she asked as he transfigured her jeans and jumper into something more comfortable. She didn't seem to notice the fabric change into silk pyjamas, but then again, maybe she didn't really care.

"Trust me, Hermione," he said, grabbing his own set of pyjamas and pausing to say, "I'd be too worried to sleep if you weren't here."

She smiled and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before slipping into the bathroom to change into his own pyjamas. He doubted he'd try and sleep right away, but there was no shame in wearing pyjamas while doing homework in bed. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to wake Hermione up by leaving to get changed later on in the night.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione didn't sleep very well that night. She awoke every few hours to either phantom pain or a nightmare. The first time she'd woken up crying, Draco had still been awake reading so she hadn't felt too terrible about disturbing him. When she woke up the second time, writhing from pain that was not really there, the lights had been off and Draco had been fast asleep. He'd woken up the second she let out a pained whimper and tried hard not to wake him up. He didn't seem to care that she'd disrupted his sleep.

"It's okay," he'd murmured, wrapping his arm around her and pressing his lips to the side of her head. The first time, it had taken a while for the pain to disappear and when it finally did, she discovered Draco was still holding her and pressing small kisses to her head.

It had happened two more times. They hadn't lasted near as long or felt half as painful as the first time, but every time, Draco would move so he could hug her better and either whisper apologies she didn't have the energy to argue with or press soft kisses to her face. It was just after the third time of phantom pain and an accompanying nightmare, that she resolved to just stay awake for the rest of the night.

"Go to sleep, Hermione," Draco told her after several minutes. She shook her head, continuing to stare up at the ceiling. He pulled her closer, practically covering her like a blanket as he did so but she didn't mind. The added warmth and comfort made her feel safer. "I have a dreamless sleep potion if you would like it," he offered. She considered it. Maybe it could keep away the phantom pain as well. If it couldn't, however, she didn't want to be trapped inside her own mind to experience it. Draco seemed to read her thoughts because he said, "It just works to keep nightmares away. It won't force you to sleep through everything."

Remembering that every time she woke up, she also woke Draco, she nodded at the idea. Draco unwrapped himself from around her and crawled off the bed. She immediately missed his presence next to her and watched as he walked to his dresser and pulled out a small vial. As he walked back to the bed, she sat up and reached out to take it from her. He conjured a water glass for her as she downed the potion. It didn't taste horrible, but she was glad for the water afterward and drank nearly the whole thing.

"Thank you," she said, lying back down on his bed. Draco made the water glass disappear before crawling back in beside her, draping himself over her like he had before. She grabbed hold of the arm he'd wrapped around her chest and turned her head to look up at him. He was already staring down at her, but Hermione didn't avert her eyes like she otherwise would have.

"I know I won't like the answer," he muttered, brushing a strand of hair further from her face. "But how many times did he actually use the _cruciatus_ curse on you."

Hermione paused. She wasn't actually sure, now that she thought about it. She was pretty sure she'd fallen unconscious around the third time, but she couldn't be sure. After that, everything blurred together. She knew for sure it had been at least three times, but suddenly she wanted to know just how many times it had been. Maybe that would explain why she kept experiencing such horrid phantom pains throughout the night. Either that or Amycus Carrow had figured out how to cast the curse on her without having to be nearby.

"Maybe three? Four?" she guessed, watching his face as he processed her words. She could tell the exact moment he realised she had no real idea because his face darkened before he could hide his emotions.

"You don't know?" he asked. She shook her head, telling him she'd fallen unconscious around the third time. He didn't seem to like the idea that Amycus could have continued casting the curse on her even while she was unconscious, so she didn't voice her worry he'd figured out a way to cast the curse without being near her. Merlin, if this was what detention was going to be like for everyone, she needed to figure out a way to keep the others safe before next Saturday.

"My list!" she exclaimed, remembering the list of books she'd written for Narcissa in hopes of borrowing. Draco looked only momentarily confused before realising what she meant. "Your mother took it, yes? Can she send them by tomorrow?"

"No, I was going to owl it to her in the morning," Draco said, pulling her back down as she tried to get up. Unfortunately, there was no way she was going to be sleeping until she knew Narcissa had her list of books and would send them as soon as she could. She was now in an even bigger hurry to find a way around the inevitable after experiencing detention for herself.

"Send it tonight," she told him, pushing his arms from around her waist and getting up from the bed. She stumbled, forgetting how weak her body was after that afternoon. From behind her, she heard Draco scrambling out of the bed and help her stand up. She pulled away before he could try and drag her back to the bed. "You don't understand," she said, moving towards the door with shaking legs. "I need those books. I need to figure it out before next week and those books are my only hope," she said. He didn't try to stop her, instead falling into step beside her to make sure she didn't fall.

"What's so important it can't wait until you're better?" Draco asked, sounding a little annoyed. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed when she realised it was two in the morning. Even if she sent the list to Narcissa now, she wouldn't get it until morning. The earliest the books would come was probably the following morning. 

"I can't—" she cut herself off, dropping onto a chair at the table. She didn't have enough energy to walk any further, but her current books were at the table anyway from her research that morning. "I can't tell you," she murmured. No matter how much she trusted Draco, she was not about to risk the entire DA. He couldn't know about it. She'd seen the Dark Mark on his arm that morning before he'd left with his mother. For a moment she'd been distracted by his bare chest, but the blur of ink on his forearm had pulled her attention away and it had been all she could do to act normal as she stared at the mark.

"Hermione, you can barely stand," he reminded her. She ignored him, opening the first book she'd read and beginning to skim it again. Maybe she'd missed something in her first reading and could find the answer this time around.

"You can go to sleep, Draco," she told him, fingering the pages of the book as she glanced over the words in front of her. "It's just research; I don't need your help."

"Then why do you need my library?" he bit back. Hermione paused before shaking her head and turning the page. There was a tense silence as she continued to skim through the book and Draco stood beside her. "Does this have anything to do with the DA?"

"What?" she snapped, tearing her attention from the book. How did he know about that? There were protections and spells in place to prevent word from getting out. Had someone not signed the paper and it had escaped her attention? She could have sworn she'd put spells in place to prevent even that.

"You said something about it when you returned from detention," he told her. Hermione tried to think back to what she'd said, but the pain had blurred everything and she couldn't remember anything very clearly. 

"What did I say exactly?" 

"Just that you'd left your ring on your nightstand on your way to the DA," he answered. She let out a breath, relieved she hadn't said anything more. Unfortunately, now Draco knew there was something called the DA. If he heard anyone else mention it, he might put the pieces together. Maybe he wouldn't do anything to break them apart, but just knowing he could find out would put her on edge. "You don't have to tell me," he muttered, dropping into a chair beside her.

"I won't," she told him. If he thought he could say something like that and guilt-trip her into telling him, he was very, very wrong. He didn't argue with her, though. Instead, he reached for her list of books and stole a piece of new parchment from her. Before Hermione could ask what he was doing, she figured it out.

He carefully copied every book title onto the parchment, writing a brief note to his mother at the bottom. With a curfew in place, he couldn't send the letter via owl right then, but she watched as he charmed the parchment and it disappeared.

"There, your list of books is sent," he told her. He stood up from his chair and held a hand out to her. "Now come get some sleep or you'll never recover."

Hermione looked longingly at her books, but she knew she wouldn't find anything she hadn't already read. Any more research with these books would just waste her time. Besides, Draco looked like if she didn't at least return to the room to try and sleep, he might break down right there. So she nodded, telling herself she was only agreeing for Draco's sake and had no intention of sleeping. However, as soon as she was back in Draco's bed, surrounded by his scent and the feeling of his arms wrapped protectively around her, she fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

When his mother's owl arrived carrying a large package of books, Draco couldn't help but smile to himself. It was breakfast on Monday and while Hermione had been hoping to receive the books Sunday evening, he knew it wouldn't have been possible. She whined the whole day about losing valuable research time, but he was glad she had the day to rest and recover from the horror Amycus had put her through. Just the thought of the man had Draco scowling at the table.

"What's got grindylows in your knickers?" Blaise asked, elbowing him. Draco rolled his eyes, setting the package of books on the floor under him and grabbing a piece of toast.

"None of your business," he replied. Blaise snorted but didn't continue to bother him about it. Instead, he changed the subject to the potions assignment.

Draco tried to tune out the conversation, knowing it would only make him more irritated. Alecto had taken to giving Slytherin students less homework than the others. It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was, but Draco would have preferred she assign the same things to everyone. He only knew the assignments were so different because Hermione had been grumbling about the length of her essay one night after Draco had finished the short reading and response he'd been assigned. They'd spent the rest of the night comparing homework in all other classes, happy to find out Alecto was the only one with such obvious favouritism. Luckily for Draco, he had an easy excuse to leave in hopes of getting the package of books up to the dorm before classes started, knowing very well Hermione would be skipping lunch to do her personal research.

Unsurprisingly to Draco, the usual evening routine he and Hermione had set up the past two weeks changed now that she had new books. He would return from dinner to see her reading at lightning speed on the couch. Each night, she had a new book and he wondered just how late she would stay up before going to bed. Whenever he asked, she seemed to have already finished her homework and left it lying on the table just in case he wanted to compare. No matter how quickly he rushed from dinner to the dorm, she was already done and reading the books his mother sent him. On Wednesday he realised it meant she was skipping meals and grabbed a plate of food for her on his way from dinner. She barely stopped reading long enough to thank him and take the plate. When he went to bed, she was still reading. After making sure she didn't need anything from him for the rest of the night, he disappeared into his room and found himself falling asleep minutes later. 

"Draco!"

He was woken up by a loud voice somewhere to his right. His eyes flew open and he subconsciously called his wand to his wand, flailing to find who had yelled his name. When his eyes landed on Hermione who was perched on the edge of his bed, talking a thousand kilometers an hour, he had to blink to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"—think I've figured it out!" she was saying. Her hair was in a ridiculously distracting messy bun and her loose t-shirt was falling off one of her shoulders, drawing Draco's thoughts an entirely different direction. She was still talking excitedly—something about the DA again and protecting the younger students from the Carrows—and Draco knew he really should be listening, but the light from downstairs was shining through his door and onto her so perfectly, lighting her up like a goddess, and he couldn't think straight.

"You're beautiful," he blurted out. She immediately stopped talking, looking at him in surprise while he wondered if he'd really just said that. Not that it wasn't true; he just hadn't intended to blurt it out like that, especially not when she was clearly in the middle of talking about something else.

"Were you even listening to me?" she asked, a teasing smile on her face.

"To be fair," Draco argued, dragging a hand down his face for emphasis, "You did just wake me up. I haven't reached a fully conscious state of mind."

Hermione just smiled and readjusted herself on the edge of his bed. She watched him, still beaming despite putting a hold on her excitement until he'd woken up a bit more. Sensing this was going to be a big deal and probably keep her awake for the rest of the night, Draco got up from his bed to stretch a little and conjured a drink of water. Just to be safe, he cast a Wake Up charm on himself then returned to the room, sitting on the bed in front of her.

"Alright, I'm ready," he told her.

If possible, Hermione seemed to beam even more and she launched back into what she'd been saying at the same speed. Despite trying incredibly hard, Draco was having a very hard time focusing on her words as she made wild gestures with her hands and the light from downstairs continued to shine on her.

"—and you're still not listening to me!" she exclaimed, stopping her gestures to look pointedly at him. "If you don't care, you can say so."

"No! I do," he replied, trying to figure out a way to explain to her how the way she was glowing like a goddess and speaking a thousand words a second was not helping. "Just—try talking slower?"

"Fine," Hermione agreed, starting from the beginning once more. Draco wasn't sure if the idea of her working on a way to protect the younger students from the Carrows’ inevitable detention should have surprised him, but he found it didn't. Instead, he smiled at the idea because of course, she would. "—and at first I thought that was the only way, but it's not and your mother is an absolute gem for sending me those books! Ginny is going to be thrilled and I'll be able to tell the DA tomorrow; no, maybe I should wait until Saturday? Should I? Not everyone will be there tomorrow, so I should wait. Oh, but I don't want to!"

"Have you tried it?" Draco interrupted. She blinked at him, confused for a second so he clarified. "Have you tried it to make sure it really does work?"

"Well, no," Hermione said, deflating a little. Draco immediately felt bad, not having intended to ruin her good mood. "But how can I? I'm not going to ask kids to send the _cruciatus_ curse at each other and hope it works. If it doesn't, I'd probably die on the spot!"

"You could try it with me," he suggested. Hermione's eyes flew wide open and she shook her head, stumbling over her words as she told him no. "Hermione, just do it. I've been through worse and I won't tell anyone if you do hurt me."

"I'm not going to _crucio_ you, Draco," she said firmly. She shook her head again, clearly thinking about something before looking up at him again. "You could do it to me."

"What? No!" Draco yelled. He may be a certified Death Eater, but the last thing he wanted was to send an Unforgivable curse at Hermione. He doubted he'd send the curse at anyone, really. Well, maybe the Dark Lord, but that was a different story.

"Why not? I've already experienced it, so I can compare it to see if it helps at all," Hermione told him. Draco glared at the reminder of what Amycus had done to her only a few days ago. He still worried about her at night and found himself waking up just to check on her.

"Hermione, I'm not going to set an Unforgivable curse at you no matter how you ask," he said. She sighed and his room fell into silence for a little bit. He thought about trying it on a bird or some other little animal, but he knew she wouldn't like the idea. Even he didn't want to subject a small creature to such torture if her charm didn't work.

"I could just make sure I got more detention," Hermione said, breaking the silence. Draco knew she'd only said it to convince him to cast the curse at her and he hated how it was almost working. The odds of a spell not working that Hermione herself had researched and put time into were incredibly low, but Draco still didn't like the idea of risking it.

"Absolutely not," Draco growled. Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you're so determined to make sure this thing works, try it on me and I'll tell you."

Hermione still looked uncomfortable at the idea, shifting so her legs were no longer folded under her but crossed. He could almost see her thought process: comparing the pros and cons of her options before she grimaced and looked up at him.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Draco nodded, telling her he had full confidence in the spell she'd found. She still seemed uncertain. "No, I can't do it," she muttered. Draco rolled his eyes and summoned his wand from his nightstand. Before he could open his mouth to cast the curse on himself, Hermione snatched his wand from him and gave him a fierce glare.

"You need to test the spell, Hermione," he reminded her, reaching for his wand. She held it out of his reach as he grabbed for it. He pushed himself closer, lunging forward to grab his wand as she held it out over the bed. The force of his movement sent him toppling on top of her and they both fell off the edge of the bed.

They landed on the floor in a tangle of limbs as Draco's wand went skittering across the floor. Draco's hands shot out on either side of Hermione, stopping himself from hitting her when he landed. He grunted as his knees hit the ground, but he successfully kept himself from dropping his full weight on top of her and crushing her. Hermione looked dazed for a second before she returned to glaring at him.

"Why won't you just curse me and get it over with?" she demanded. Draco half expected her to scramble out from under him, but she didn't.

"It's none of your business why," he snapped back. Honestly, why couldn't she just get the hint that it wasn't going to happen? He didn't need to explain to her that just the thought of sending a curse her way had guilt coursing through him. She didn't need to know that several of his usual nightmares had been replaced with her writhing in the sitting room or watching as Amycus send curse after curse at her.

"It's clearly not that hard," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "After all, Amycus Carrow managed to do it more than three times in a row."

"Don't you _dare_ compare me to Amycus Carrow," he growled. He may be marked and branded like a Death Eater and he may have chatted with the Carrows over dinner, but that did not make him like them. The other Death Eaters had chosen their own path; he'd been forced to take the Mark by his aunt.

"Why not?" she bit back, taunting him. He could tell she was annoyed and possibly angry that he wasn't complying to her research, but those stupid thoughts of how beautiful she looked with her hair framing her face on the ground and the little ink smudges across her cheek he hadn't noticed before kept popping up. If they didn't move apart, Draco might not be able to stop himself from blurting out something stupid again. He couldn't even bring himself to look away from her lips as she said, "I've annoyed you just like I did him. Why haven't you _crucio_ 'd me three times?"

Draco fumed. She wanted to know why he was different? Fine, he'd tell her why he wasn't like that git Amycus and why he absolutely refused to risk the pain of the _cruciatus_ curse even if it could help the younger students. However, words failed him and the only thing his body seemed to find for a reasonable explanation was pressing his lips to hers and hoping this wasn't a dream.


	12. Chapter 12

He was kissing her. She'd been in the middle of insulting him and he'd just leaned down and kissed her. Who did that? She wasn't even prepared for how to respond and found herself staring awkwardly at his face for the first couple of seconds as he gently kissed her. When he started to pull away, however, Hermione finally snapped out of her trance and found herself reaching up to pull his lips back down to hers. She could feel him smile in response, but she was too content to pull away and tease him for it. No, she would stay like this for the next century: kissing Draco Malfoy on the floor of his bedroom.

Clearly, she hadn't intended for this to be the outcome when she'd raced into his room to tell him out the breakthrough she'd just made. Seeing him fast asleep hadn't even registered until she realised he was looking particularly groggy and definitely not paying attention to her as she spoke. Even then she hadn't felt very bad about waking him up. She'd been too excited to tell someone to feel bad or wait and now she was honestly trying to remember what she'd been saying before Draco had attacked her with his lips. She doubted it could be more important than threading her fingers through Draco's hair and the feeling of his body covering hers entirely. Nothing could be more exciting or important than what she was currently doing.

When they did finally pull away, it was because Hermione badly needed to breathe. They were both panting and Hermione was pretty sure her face was red, but she didn't care. Draco was still lying on top of her and his face was buried in her neck as he tried to catch his breath. Every time he breathed, his warm breath fanned over her neck and it was all Hermione could do not to shiver.

"I'm not going to _crucio_ you, Hermione," he murmured, pressing a tickling kiss to her neck. Hermione smiled; that's what they'd been talking about earlier. It was a stupid thing to argue about, she supposed, but she still wanted to make sure the spell worked.

"Okay," she agreed, moving her hands from his hair to wrap around his shoulders. He was still propped on his elbows, holding himself up so he wasn't crushing her, but she wished he wasn't. Even when disrupting her research, he was warm and safe and she really just wanted to hug him for hours on end.

"However," he said, pulling away to look at her, "I am interested in hearing about whatever you were talking about earlier."

Hermione snorted before she started to laugh. Draco watched her, an amused smile as his face as she shook with laughter from below him. As sweetly and mockingly as she could, she cupped his face and opened her mouth to say something before dissolving into more laughter.

"Draco," she said between laughs, "If you weren't listening before, what makes you think you'll listen now?"

"I'll try really hard," he promised, kissing a spot on her cheek right under her eye. She was still laughing softly at the thought, but what was one more time explaining?

"Fine," she agreed, pushing him off of her so she could sit up. Neither of them would be able to focus on what she was saying if Draco stayed hovering over her and pressing kisses to her face.

She started from the beginning, telling Draco about how her and Ginny had decided they needed a way to keep the younger students safe with the Carrows at Hogwarts. She told him of the first spell she'd discovered and saved as a back-up plan; how the books his mother had sent had offered at least three more options. Only one of the three had sounded exactly what she wanted which had immediately struck her as convenient, so she'd read further on it to figure out all the side effects it could have. Aside from leaving real marks where injured, it seemed flawless. The person charmed with it wouldn't feel the pain or terror of anything that happened to them and if there were any physical injuries, the spell would work as a makeshift healer. It couldn't keep them from losing blood or passing out from the stress of the injury, but it would prevent them from feeling the pain or terror and could protect them until they received actual medical attention.

"It sounds familiar," Draco muttered at the end of her explanation. She frowned. Sure, the books were from his library so he might have read them, but he almost sounded as if he'd seen the spell in effect. "I'll write my mother," he told her, summoning a parchment and a quill. "Perhaps she knows more about that particular spell."

Hermione watched as he penned a quick note to his mother, asking her what the name of the spell was then asking her to spell it for him. He used the same charm to send the finished letter away then looked up at her with a grin.

"You know I'm proud of you, right?" he said, throwing her off for a second. What on earth was he talking about? "You've worked so hard to find a spell that would protect everyone else and now you've figured it out. I'd never had even thought of the idea."

"It's really not that big of a deal," she said, trying not to turn red. He was looking at her with such a sweet look and she could see the pride in his eyes despite insisting that it wasn't her idea alone. She was certain Ginny had been some sort of influence in the decision making process even if she hadn't done the research.

"But it is, Hermione," Draco insisted, reaching out and grabbing her hand. She subconsciously laced her fingers through his and smiled. "If you were to walk up to a third year and ask them if this was a big deal to them, they'd probably hug you until you couldn't breathe."

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione groaned, thinking of how the DA would react. If she received hugs from every single one of those kids, it would take up the entire practice time. Besides, she rather liked breathing.

"Hey, it's a good thing," Draco told her, smiling when she rolled her eyes. He used the hand she was holding onto to pull her closer. She grinned as she let herself be dragged forward and into his lap. With a cheeky grin, he wrapped his arms around her from around her back and pressed a kiss to a spot behind her ear. She refused to shiver, instead pressing herself even closer and hugging the arms he'd wrapped around her.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked, spotting a small spot of ink on his forearm. He hummed. "You're not going to like it."

"I haven't liked a lot of things recently," he muttered. Hermione felt her heart clench at the thought of Draco dreading his life instead of enjoying it. He deserved to be happy and to have a war beginning during the last year of their schooling already made things pretty terrible.

"You have the Dark Mark," she said, forgetting to make it a question. She felt Draco tense and made a point of running her hand down his arm soothingly. A muscle in his arm twitched and she knew he was tempted to pull away from her, but he didn't.

"That's not a question."

"Why?" she asked, twisting slightly to face him. She had an idea, but she wanted to be certain. If he'd been forced to take the Mark, things would be much more different than if he'd willingly done so. Being eager to be marked for Voldemort would change a lot of things about their friendship and whatever this new thing was.

"Why what? Why let it happen? Why stay friends with you?" Draco asked. She hadn't really thought into what she was asking 'why' about, but both of those seemed like worthwhile questions so she nodded to both. Draco sighed and she felt his breath hit her neck moments before his forehead connected with her shoulder. "I didn't have much of a choice," he said softly. Before she could even think to argue with him that he did, he was saying, "I know it seems like I always do, but when the Dark Lord is living in your home and you have Death Eaters as dinner guests every night who ask when you'll officially join his rank, it's not a choice. My mother hated the idea and fought against it as long as she could, but at seventeen I was an adult and she couldn't make her excuses, so I took it. I want to say things have been easier since then, but I don't honestly know anymore."

Hermione subconsciously ran her thumb over his arm, refusing to let him pull away when he tried. He quit after the second time and dropped his head back onto her shoulder.

"As for you?" he murmured. He pressed three kisses along her neck then said, "I was too invested in our relationship by third year. My mother knew, of course, and probably suspected there was more to my feelings about you before I did. I know being a Death Eater with a father who hates your guts complicates things, but I know where I want us to stand. If you need some time, though, that's okay too."

Hermione turned around to fully face him, bringing her hands up to gently cup his face. With her back to his chest, she hadn't been able to see his eyes watering and the way he bit his lip subconsciously. She supposed she could just tell him straight out where she wanted them to stand now, but she wasn't entirely sure she could accurately portray just what she wanted. Instead of trying to awkwardly explain what she wanted and hope they were on the same page, she pressed their lips together again for just a short moment before pulling away.

"I'm proud of you," she said softly. One of his hands reached up and grabbed hold of her wrist. She brushed her thumb over his cheek as she told him, "You're brave and you're funny and you're my best friend, but—" she felt him tense at that and smiled despite herself "—but I want us to try this new thing. The thing you claim your mother saw before you."

"Me too," Draco said after a pause, before drawing her back in to kiss her senseless.


	13. Chapter 13

Draco could tell Hermione was excited to tell her friends about what she'd discovered in her research. The morning after the grand discovery, he'd watched as discreetly as possible as she tried to explain it to Ginny without squealing in delight. He'd been distracted by an owl a second later and had unfortunately read through his father's letter while Hermione finished talking to Ginny. When he'd looked back up, they were getting up to leave the Great Hall. 

He was honestly surprised word didn't spread about the spell Hermione had found. Maybe Ginny was the only person other than him that Hermione had told, but the lack of rumours still amazed him. Whatever the DA was, clearly Hermione cared more about it than telling more people about her success. Draco felt lucky being the first person to know, but he figured being her roommate and recently appointed boyfriend had its perks.

By the time Friday night rolled around and he still hadn't heard rumours of her research, he had decided Hermione Granger was nothing if not impressive. She'd been too excited to keep quiet the first night, but somehow no one other than Ginny knew.

"—ever write back?" Hermione asked. Draco looked up at her, having completely missed the first half of her question. "Did your mother ever write back?" she repeated. Draco frowned as he shook his head. He'd only received a letter from his father that week. However, he hadn't scanned the parchment for a hidden note from her, so he summoned the letter he'd been tempted to burn and ran his wand over it. Sure, enough his mother had written a short note in invisible ink.

_Draco,_

_I believe a meeting with Miss. Granger personally would be best to explain. Perhaps Sunday at noon in your dormitory?_

_Much love,_

_Mother_

"She did, actually," Draco said. He didn't hand the parchment over to Hermione as he didn't particularly want her reading what his father had sent. It had been a rather long, nasty letter ending by telling him Aunt Bella and he would be using the Floo Saturday afternoon so he'd better make sure their dorm was empty. Unfortunately, the words used had not been so kind to Hermione.

"She's coming here again?" Hermione asked, looking more excited by the idea than Draco would have thought. He smiled and nodded, already imagining the list of things she'd want to clean and get done by then. As if sensing his thoughts, she started murmuring to herself about how she'd need to get most things done Saturday morning. Draco figured this meant she'd be out for the afternoon, but he still asked. He needed to be certain. "Yes, I'll be out with Ginny right after lunch," she said, turning her attention back to her homework.

Now that he was certain she'd be gone while his father and Bellatrix were visiting, he could relax a little more. Of course, he wasn't above asking her to be gone for several hours, but he'd rather not raise suspicion. Even with Severus as Headmaster, inviting Death Eaters into Hogwarts via Floo would not go over well.

They worked in comfortable silence for the evening, moving from schoolwork at the table to reading and chatting quietly in the sitting room. With Hermione's legs thrown over his and listening to her talk animatedly about a non-fiction book she'd read recently, he could almost believe they weren't about to start a war. He was so focused on savouring the moment, he wasn't listening to what she was saying. Instead, he memorised the way her hands waved in the air as she spoke and the warmth from her legs. He found himself smiling stupidly whenever he snapped out of a daze and every so often, his eyes would find her lips. It was one such moment of watching her lips when he realised she'd yawned for the second time in a single sentence and decided they should probably head to bed.

"But I'm still reading," Hermione protested when he brought the idea up. He rolled his eyes and took the finished book from her hands to set on the couch away from her.

"It's well past midnight," he told her, glancing at the clock. She huffed, letting him know she wasn't tired but he was free to go to bed whenever. He didn't argue; instead, he wordlessly hoisted her into his arms and stood from the couch. She yelped in surprise, her arms darting up to wrap around his neck.

"Draco, I want to read," she protested. He wasn't having it though and carried her all the way up the stairs before pausing. She was trying to negotiate being able to read a little while longer, but Draco was now having his own dilemma. While he wanted her to stay in his room again like she had several nights before, he didn't want her to feel awkward.

"I'll make you a deal," he said, interrupting what had to be her third negotiation attempt. She stopped talking and looked at him with interest. "If you stay in my room, I'll let you read for another hour."

Hermione practically glowed at the idea before nodding excitedly. Draco wasn't sure if she was more excited about reading or staying in his room, but he figured not asking was the best idea. As soon as he let her down, she raced back down the stairs to grab her book then into her room to get dressed into her pyjamas. Draco wandered into his own room, leaving the door cracked as he grabbed his own pyjamas and moved to change in the bathroom. He may have enough courage to ask Hermione to stay with night with him, but he doubted either of them would recover quickly if she walked in on him changing.

By the time he walked out of the bathroom ready for bed, Hermione was already tucked into his bed with a book propped open in her lap. The lamp was on and she looked so engrossed in her reading already, Draco wondered if she'd notice him climbing into the bed beside her. She did, and as he laid with his head by her thigh, one of her hands dropped down to gently comb through his hair. The feeling of her fingers threading through his hair made his eyes flutter and warmth blossom in his chest. Without thinking, he rolled onto his stomach and threw one arm over her waist.

"Only an hour, 'Mione," he muttered, only half aware of what he was saying. There was a pause in the combing through his hair, but a second later a soft kiss was being pressed to his cheek and he smiled.

"Alright," she promised, resuming what she'd been doing before and sending him asleep within a few minutes.

It was really quite a shame when, no more than three hours later, Draco was forced awake by a nightmare. He shot upright, gasping for air as he tried not to remember the images that had been thrust before him. Memories from summer had blurred together with his fears to create a nightmare that still had him gasping and suddenly he couldn't breathe.

"You're okay," a soft voice said. Small arms wrapped around his waist and Draco jumped before recognising both the voice and the body hugging him. It took a while before he could breathe normally and he didn't jump at nearly every shadow in his room, but when he was finally able to think straight, he turned to wrap Hermione in the tightest hug she'd ever received.

She didn't protest and if he was crushing her, he wouldn't have known. Instead, he focused on her warm skin against his and the little puffs of air that hit his chest whenever she breathed. She wasn't dead and every time her chest moved to breathe, he was reminded of that. Her skin wasn’t cold and lifeless, but warm and very, very soft under his touch. It was much easier to remind himself it had only been a dream when she was there hugging him just as tightly as he hugged her.

"Are you alright?" she murmured, slowly forcing him to lie back down. He grabbed at her desperately, pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her securely.

"Nightmare," he replied, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She hummed and hugged him, letting him curl up into her side. Her arms moved to around his shoulders and she hugged him protectively. Like she had before he fell asleep, she combed her fingers through his hair soothingly.

"I'm right here, Draco," she promised. He knew she was encouraging him to fall back asleep, but it would almost certainly be a while. Even with her breathing in his ear and arms hugging him tightly, he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly until he'd cleared the nightmare from his mind and could think about the various aspects of it without bringing it to memory. As he expected, she fell asleep before him, but with her warm body pressed against his, he found he fell asleep quicker than he usually did and wondered if it wouldn't be worthwhile to ask her to stay every night.


	14. Chapter 14

Things continued as normal for most of the year. After Hermione showed Ginny how to cast the protection spell on the younger students, they'd spent almost an entire DA practice doing it while the students reviewed the defense spells they already knew. It wasn't long after that detention became a more common occurrence in the school and Hermione was practically vibrating with nervous energy until a small third year came up to her at breakfast to tell her the spell had worked. After that, Hermione found herself casting the spell on any student she saw wandering the halls whether they were apart of the DA or not. Ginny was guilty of the same thing and not long after that, Luna and Neville were as well. With the problem of detention solved, Hermione had more time to worry about Ron and Harry who hadn't written to update her on their progress since finding out one Horcrux was locked away in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. She'd sent a letter after doing hours of research, informing them how to get around the goblins and into the vault, but she hadn't heard anything back. There also hadn't been anything in the papers about a break-in at Gringotts so she supposed that was good, but now she found herself worrying more.

Hermione couldn't say the year was going well, but it also wasn't going horribly. She'd heard from Mrs. Weasley a couple of times and with Draco's assistance, she'd been able to meet and talk with Narcissa Malfoy a total of two times. They'd talked about protection spells, wards, and charms as well as long-forgotten healing spells Narcissa admitted to using in the First War.

"Lucius was often on the front line," she'd said softly. Hermione hadn't brought the subject up again, but she'd been grateful for the spells anyway. If they really were about to go to war, she wanted to be prepared for anything.

When the holiday break came around, Draco was unable to stay at Hogwarts. He didn't say much about the reason why, but Hermione was able to piece together enough information to know it had something to do with Voldemort.

Many of the students were staying over the break, too worried about the attacks that had been reported all year. Hermione figured most parents would think Hogwarts was the safest place for their kids and with the Carrows busy doing Voldemort's bidding, it probably was the safest it had been all year. Hermione was tempted to visit the Burrow for Christmas, but Mrs. Weasley had written to say they were all split up and there wouldn't be a big celebration. When even Ginny admitted to staying over the holiday, Hermione decided to stick around too.

"Write if anything happens," Draco said, pulling Hermione in for a tight hug. She wasn't sure why he was so worried as she would be the safest between the two of them, but war times put everyone on edge no matter how safe someone was.

"You too," Hermione told him. With so many Death Eaters and Voldemort himself staying at the Manor over break, she knew she wouldn't hear from him unless something terrible happened. She could feel the protection amulet under his shirt, though, and knew he would be safer than without it.

"Oh!" Draco said, pulling away from her and summoning something behind his back. "I almost forgot to give you your Christmas gift."

Hermione smiled as he pulled a neatly wrapped box from behind his back and handed it to her. She took it, sitting on the couch to wrap it. Pulling aside the tissue paper, she found a hardcover copy of _Spells of the Ancients_. She pulled open the front cover to see what the book was about and a thin envelope fell out. Picking it up, she glanced at Draco. It wasn't his handwriting, but she knew she recognised it.

"From my mother," he told her. Hermione smiled and tucked the envelope back into the book, promising herself she'd read both after Draco left for the holiday.

"Your gift is at the Burrow," Hermione told him. She'd been planning on him staying for the holiday so she'd told Molly to send it a couple of days before Christmas. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to get ahold of the other witch in time for her to send it sooner and so she'd be waiting until after the holiday to give him his gift.

"It better not be one of the Merlin awful Weasley jumpers," Draco warned. Hermione laughed and shook her head. She'd thought about asking Mrs. Weasley to make him one, but then she'd have to explain how their relationship had changed and Mrs. Weasley had never trusted Draco as much as she tried, so Hermione hadn't bothered. Instead, she'd just asked if she could keep her gift for Draco safe until she could give it to him.

"I did consider it," she admitted. Draco rolled his eyes and pulled her from the couch to kiss her one last time. She cupped his face before he could pull away and drew him closer, savouring the moment as it would be almost two weeks before she saw him again. "Stay safe, Draco," she whispered as she let him go. He pressed a kiss to her forehead in response.

"I will," he promised. They stepped apart and Hermione watched him levitate his bag out of the dorm. He waved before completely disappearing but once the door shut, the dorm was silent.

For the most part, the holiday break was quiet. Hermione and Ginny spent Christmas Day at Rosmerta's in Hogsmeade after visiting her shop a few days earlier and being invited. She'd be spending the day alone otherwise and wasn't in the mood to only cook for one person. When they mentioned Luna and Neville were back at the school, she insisted they bring them along as well. They'd left the school before breakfast and arrived at Rosmerta's apartment above her shop just in time to see her pull a delicious looking cobbler from the oven. As soon as she'd spotted them standing in the doorway, she'd ushered them in and put each of them to work.

"How do you have so many oranges?" Neville had breathed when he saw the large basket. She'd assigned him the duty of pressing all the oranges so they could have fresh orange juice. Ginny set the table while Hermione cut some fruit and Luna arranged it into an artful looking bowl. Half an hour after they'd arrived, they were sitting down at the table and starting their brunch.

Of course, as unplanned as the day was, there weren't any presents to give. Instead, Rosmerta brewed them all a fresh pot of butterbeer and they gathered in the living room to play card games until late in the afternoon. As darkness fell, Rosmerta bid them all goodbye and told them to stay safe on the walk back to the castle.

"You never know things are bad until they are," she warned. They promised to be careful as they left the apartment and started the walk back to Hogwarts.

On the way, they quietly discussed plans for the DA. Ginny felt like holding meetings on the same day every week at the same time was too predictable but Neville thought it would get too confusing to switch the day and time each week. At the very least, Hermione wanted to take advantage of the remaining holiday break and meet several times before classes started again.

"We could meet at the same time but change the day," Neville suggested, trying to negotiate with Ginny. Luna and Hermione had moved on to discussing what spells they wanted to be certain everyone knew well and what remaining spells they wanted to teach. 

By the time they reached Hogwarts, Ginny and Neville seemed to agree on changing the meeting day around and adjusting the time only when necessary. Hermione was more than willing to do so as she was beginning to worry they were becoming predictable as well. That just left them with the task of informing everyone they planned to meet every other day for the remaining nine days of holiday. It was easy enough to tell the Gryffindors that night and Luna promised to inform all Ravenclaws in the DA, but Hermione still worried about telling the Hufflepuffs. As it was, many of the younger Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were friends with some Hufflepuffs so the word got out they would be meeting in two days immediately following lunch. What Hermione hadn't counted on was the paper announcing a Death Eater attack in Hogsmeade the following morning that reported several casualties on both sides.


	15. Chapter 15

Draco was exhausted. He'd been on edge all holiday, holing up in his room unless the Dark Lord demanded his presence or his mother requested he join them for dinner. A few nights he spent at Blaise's, but most of the time he was trapped in the Manor. The day after Christmas, he'd been forced to join an attack in Hogsmeade and he'd begged every deity he could think of that no one from Hogwarts was in the town at the time. He hadn't been on the front lines of the battle and instead stuck near the back to only do what was necessary. When the cry came for them to disapparate, he knew things had gone poorly and didn't waste any time returning to the Manor. The next morning, he found out two Death Eaters—neither of which he knew well—had been killed. He wondered about the casualties of the townspeople but didn't have to ask around with Dolohov bragging about killing a dozen himself. The papers reported several casualties on both ends, but the article only listed the number of deaths Hogsmeade had experienced. As the number 42 stared back at him, he wanted to vomit. 42 people dead in Hogsmeade and only two murdered among the Death Eaters. The comparison was disgusting.

By the time he was on the train back to Hogwarts, the paper was back to ignoring the actions of Death Eaters and no more mention of Hogsmeade appeared. He wondered, as he walked up to the Head's dormitory, if Hermione would be angry with him for participating in such an event. He could tell her he hadn't done anything, but his presence there alone may be enough to upset her.

To his surprise, when he stumbled into the dorm, she looked relieved. She jumped up from the couch and threw her arms around his shoulders, distracting him enough his trunk dropped to the ground behind him.

"I was worried you'd gotten hurt," she told him, her hands moving to his face to look him over. "The papers reported several deaths on both sides and then I heard so many had died in Hogsmeade, I wondered if you would be okay."

"I'm perfectly unharmed," he assured her. Many of the other Death Eaters had been injured or stupefied, but he had been far enough behind to return home uninjured. "Only two of us died, though several were injured."

"So you were there?" she asked. She still didn't look angry, but he could almost sense disappointment. He sighed. "You were apart of the attack?"

"Yes," he admitted. Her hands dropped from his face but he grabbed hold of them before she could pull away. "It's not like that, Hermione. I stayed in the back and only cast stupefying charms."

"You were still there," she reminded him. She proceeded to tell him she'd been in Hogsmeade the day before. Her, Ginny, Neville, and Luna had gone to Rosmerta's for Christmas and been walking back to Hogwarts at that same time only a day earlier. Draco's mind flashed back to the arguments in the Manor; some of the Death Eaters had wanted to go on Christmas just to cause more destruction. Only his father had been able to convince them not to waste time as everyone would be inside for the day. If they had gone on Christmas Day and Hermione had been one of the casualties, Draco wasn't sure what he would have done.

"There would have been too many questions if I hadn't gone," he insisted. She didn't look convinced. "I spent so many nights at Blaise's and they'd started to notice. My father was the one who forced me to come just for appearances."

"I suppose you were forced to have dinner with Voldem—"

"Don't!" Draco yelled, covering her mouth before she could finish the word. The name was muffled but Hermione looked absolutely furious. She pulled her face away from his hand and yanked herself free of him entirely.

"How dare you!" she hissed, "First you join his league, then you act as if you can control me. I'll say his name if I damn well please. I'll say it a hundred times! Vold—"

"No!" Draco interrupted, silencing her with his wand. If she'd looked mad before, she was about to combust now. Her lips moved rapidly as she (he assumed) cursed him. Before she could get too far into her rant and say the Dark Lord's name without him recognising it, he blurted, "It's taboo, now."

Her lips stopped moving, but she still looked furious.

"It's taboo and anyone that says his name is tracked down by Snatchers," he said. Her anger morphed into confusion and wariness, so he removed the silencing charm. "It happened over the holiday. Greyback suggested anyone who was called the Dark Lord by anything other than the 'Dark Lord' was likely aligned with the Order."

"How do you about the Order—"

"It's not a secret," Draco said, waving off her question. He'd figured she'd know about the Order as the Weasleys had been apart of it in the First War. It was all but confirmed the entire family was apart of it now and Dumbledore had definitely not died without first making sure someone or thing was fighting the Dark Lord in his absence. "Even uttering his name will alert the Snatchers and they won't stop until they find you, so yes, I am going to prevent you from saying something that could land you in the paws of Fenrir Greyback."

There was silence. Hermione had clearly not expected that, but how could she have known? It wasn't like the papers were publicly mentioned the Dark Lord's name was taboo. They'd only covered the disappearances of various wizards and even then, the comments had been short and not very informative. The lack of publicity the anti-Voldemort articles received only led Draco to believe the Ministry and much of the papers had been overtaken by the Dark Lord's followers.

"Can I write the word?" Hermione asked. Draco frowned. Why would she want to write the word? "Harry and Ron won't know and I'm certain they talk about him. I have to let them know!"

She was already off to find a parchment before Draco could actually answer the question he had no real answer for. Meanwhile, he was left trying to figure out what to do. He knew what his father would want him to do, but Draco wasn't in the mood to place a tracker on the parchment and report back to his father where her letter ended up. If Potter and Weasley were discovered after her letter arrived wherever they were, she may not piece things together, but he'd still feel incredibly guilty. He didn't need to ask to know the Dark Lord would likely kill the two boys as soon as he got his hands on them.

"Hermione?" Draco asked, causing her to pause her letter. "You know I'm a Death Eater. You've seen the mark on my forearm. Why do you still trust me?"

"Because you're you," she replied without thinking. Draco was both confused and warmed by her answer. She hadn't needed a single second to think about her answer and he figured that was a true testament to their friendship. Things had gotten harder with the brewing war, but Hermione had been a constant in his life since third year. Evidently, she didn't think things between them had or should change.

"But how do you know it's safe to trust me?" Draco asked. Her head tilted to the side as she looked up at him. This time she did take a moment to think.

"I just know it is," she replied with a shrug. "With Harry and Ron, things were easy. With you, things are easy. I guess when it gets a little harder, I'll be more cautious."

"Hermione, I'm apart of a group that wants you dead," Draco reminded her. She just blinked at him. "My father has hated you since day one and I spent all of our holiday having dinner with people who talk about torturing your kind."

"Do you enjoy it?"

"What?" Draco asked. Why would she ever think he enjoyed that sort of thing? It was despicable and he had to use magic just to distract himself from the particularly morbid or disgusting topics.

"Do you enjoy it when they talk about those things?" she repeated. Draco shook his head quickly and she smiled. "You're not a bad person, Draco, but you are surrounded by bad people. Someone who is surrounded by and forced to join bad people but can keep his good beliefs is someone worthwhile."

As if she hadn't just said something that completely changed his life, she picked up her quill and returned to writing her letter to Potter. With a soft hum, Draco wandered up to his room to unpack his trunk and think about just how much he loved Hermione.


	16. Chapter 16

Everyone was on edge. The year was going by quickly and reports of Death Eater attacks were increasing. Despite the minimal information Draco gave her, she knew the number of Death Eaters that were killed or injured was drastically less than the number of innocent people getting killed. To make matters worse, Snape wasn't doing anything to reassure the students. Sure, he had to play double agent and pretend to be a Death Eater, but he could at least make an announcement reminding the students that Hogwarts was the safest place they could be. It was hard not to think about what Dumbledore would be doing in response to the current events despite how hard she tried not to.

Mrs. Weasley had written her a couple of times in the past month or two assuring Hermione they were all okay. The Order didn't keep in contact with her, but Hermione had the strangest feeling that the letters Molly sent her was how the Order was keeping track of her. Ron and Harry didn't ever write, which she supposed that was good on them. Every now and then, she would be woken up by Harry's patronus and a short update. The updates usually only came after they'd found a Horcrux and informed her of the next one they would hunt down. Hermione only sent a patronus to them with important updates about what happened at Hogwarts. After writing a letter to inform them Voldemort was now a taboo word, she'd thought against it and sent a patronus where she spelled out the word and told them not to say it.

The DA was making substantial progress, but Filch had started wandering the seventh floor more. One of the fourth years had been caught walking back to the Ravenclaw tower, but it hadn't been after curfew so Filch hadn't really had a reason to be upset by it. The day after, however, Luna had reported that the same fourth year had had trouble with the Carrows in both potions and DADA. When the Ravenclaw told her at their next practice she'd gotten weekend detention, Hermione had reinforced the protection spell on her and told her she had to be so incredibly convincing that neither of the Carrows questioned her. Hermione hadn't slept well that weekend until she received word that the girl had been a good enough actor no one had been fooled.

As spring came, more reports of Death Eater sightings and attacks were printed. Draco tended to disappear on weekends more and more and she would watch him as he scratched at his arm some nights before leaving. He always wore her protection amulet so she knew he was safe, but that didn't stop her from worrying. When he didn't return on a school night, however, she knew something bad was coming.

"Enough of Slytherin is missing, people are beginning to notice," Ginny muttered at breakfast several days later. Draco hadn't been back to Hogwarts for four days and Hermione was burning with nervous energy. She'd spent the last several nights with Ginny just so she wasn't alone with her thoughts.

"Draco's been gone for four days," she confided. Ginny's eyes widened and Hermione shot her a look. She tried to look nonchalant, but Hermione could tell the thought was startling. "He left without a word and he hasn't said anything since."

"What makes you think he'd say something if they were about to attack?" Ginny replied. Hermione didn't answer. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on the Carrows who had been getting more and more excited as days went on.

"Keep an eye on the Carrows," Hermione said, changing the subject from Draco. Ginny nodded and they finished breakfast in silence.

Hermione was glad she'd warned Ginny about the Carrows because it was that very day Amycus told them they would be learning the Unforgivable curses and Alecto said they'd be brewing poisonous potions. As soon as Amycus asked for a volunteer, Hermione started silently casting the protection charms on every student in the class. She was barely through with the first row when she heard her name called.

"Mudblood, come up and help me demonstrate," Amycus sneered excitedly. Hermione's heart sank to her feet as she realised she hadn't cast the charm on herself. She wasn't even sure if she could.

"With all due respect," Blaise Zabini said lazily, stopping Hermione before she could get up. "Wouldn't it be better served to cast the curse ourselves?"

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Blaise and Draco were close enough Blaise had to know about her and Draco's friendship at the very least. He couldn't honestly be suggesting students cast Unforgivable curses at each other. When he gave her a sharp look and darted his eyes back to the front of the room, she realised he was up to something else. She took advantage of the stalled time to cast more protection spells on the students. As Blaise argued with Amycus about the pros and cons of reading about the curse and practicing it on things like plants, she continued casting the spell. She even heard Pansy Parkinson chime in as well.

"With a partner to compete against, we'd be better able to excel at the curse," Pansy said. Hermione was nearly finished with the room and if they could delay Amycus just a few more minutes, she could cast it on everyone besides herself. Unfortunately, she could feel the effect of casting such powerful magic so quickly and so many times in a row without saying a word. She was beginning to feel light-headed from all the silent magic when class ended. Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson had effectively stalled the lesson on Unforgivable curses.

Luckily, lunch was next and Hermione could warn Ginny about the upcoming lesson in DADA. Ginny told Hermione about potions and when Neville added a first-year had told him the same thing, they came up with a quick plan.

The Room of Requirement could be anything they needed. Right now, they needed to keep really everyone away from the Carrows without them getting in trouble for skipping classes. It would take more planning than a single lunch period, but Hermione needed a quick solution.

"The DA meets tonight," she told them, interrupting Neville in the middle of his sentence. "Spread the word. We meet tonight and everyone is to bring all their friends even if they aren't apart of the DA."

Ginny and Neville looked at her like they had a thousand questions, but they didn't ask them. Instead, they nodded and began to spread the word immediately. While Ginny got up and walked to the Ravenclaw table, Neville stood up and murmured something to a few of the younger Gryfinndors. Hermione could see Snape and the Carrows watching her closely, but she wasn't afraid of them at that moment. Someone needed to protect the students and if Snape wasn't willing to, she would. Even if it meant she'd have to skip all her classes in the afternoon just to prepare the Room of Requirement for what she needed, she'd do it. Unfortunately, when she left the Great Hall and slipped down an empty hall, she was stopped abruptly by Blaise Zabini.

"What are you doing, Granger?" he asked. He didn't sound surprised she was off to do something, but he did sound intrigued. While Blaise had stalled Amycus Carrow long enough for her to spell everyone in the room, she didn't know him well enough to trust.

"I'm feeling rather sick and thought I might spend the day in my dorm," she lied easily. He raised an eyebrow at her. She moved to go around him as she said, "Now if you'll excuse—"

"Draco sent me," Blaise interrupted. Hermione stopped. She and Blaise were shoulder to shoulder, but she didn't turn to look at him. "He didn't even tell me what was going to happen, but he wanted to make sure you were doing something about it."

"I am," she replied. Blaise nodded then glanced over at her. She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at Blaise.

"Good," he murmured. His lips twitched into a small smile—almost as if he was proud of her—before he walked away and disappeared around the corner. She knew he would tell Draco what the Carrows were teaching and it would make him worry, but she couldn't risk sending him a letter with so many Death Eaters and Voldemort himself taking up residence in the Manor. She'd just have to hope they'd both be fine.


	17. Chapter 17

He hated this. He hated the Manor and the way it echoed with malicious laughter all day. There wasn't a room in the house that was totally empty except for his. Even then, he'd sometimes walk in to see his mother sitting in a chair and reading something from his personal bookshelf. He much preferred her company over the other options in the manor, so he never said anything when she was there. They seemed to have a mutual understanding not to talk about their current situation. 

Dinners were the worst. Draco would have to listen to several Death Eaters (they changed almost every night) talk about when they would finally attack Hogwarts. When he'd been called away by his Mark almost a week ago, he'd known something was about to go down. He hadn't expected it to take so long, but after understanding their next plan of attack was the takedown Hogwarts, he knew it would be a while. He'd tried not to participate in the stupid dinners and musings of the other Death Eaters every day, but trapped inside the Manor with them left little else to do. Mulciber had voiced a rather brutal idea for what to do with muggle-borns and blood traitors after they won. It was so disgusting, Draco had to excuse himself just so he wouldn't hex them all that night. Unfortunately, the others had thought it was a fantastic idea and Draco had to listen to them talk about it again at breakfast and dinners the following nights.

It was day seven of being home from Hogwarts when word came that they'd be moving in that night. After Draco had locked himself away in his room almost two days ago, he hadn't heard what was happening around him and was shocked to hear Potter was tracked to Hogsmeade. He'd disappeared, but no one had apparated out of the town, so it was assumed he'd taken a secret tunnel into Hogwarts. The Dark Lord felt sure he would be there and after finding out he and Potter had some strange link, Draco knew he was right.

Blaise had sent word about what the Carrows were teaching, writing a convincing letter of triumph over blood traitors and muggle-borns. When the owl had pecked at his window, Draco had feared the letter would say something worse. Blaise had clearly accounted for the possibility of someone else scanning the letter and even trying several different revealing charms. It took Draco a few minutes to figure out how to reveal the hidden message he knew Blaise had written and when it turned out all he had to do was say "Fucking hell, Blaise, what'd you do to this?", he almost burned the letter.

_Granger's safe. Haven't seen her in a day, but half of the students are missing and more are disappearing by the hour. Carrows are using Unforgivables on students in the hallways now, but most of them seem unaffected which I assume is her doing as well. Merlin, Draco, you sure do know how to pick them._

Draco rolled his eyes at that, but he was glad to know Hermione's spell was working. He chuckled at the thought of how infuriating it must be for the Carrows to cast curses on the students and have nothing happen. On the other hand, if half the students were missing at Hermione's hand and the other half or so seemed immune to the Carrows' curses, either Hermione had figured out a way to cast the spell nonverbally and without suspicion, or the DA she sometimes talked about was much larger than he'd originally thought.

_Pansy and I have taken to hiding some of the Slytherin students. She'll lie and say it was my idea, but I think she's just as worried. I haven't figured out Granger's hiding spot yet, so we'll have to keep them with us. Any word on when this will be over? Things are getting rough quick and I'm pretty sure the Carrows are about to go on a killing spree. Much love, Zabini._

He snorted at the signature before lighting his wand and burning the letter with an irreversible fire. When it was completely gone, he penned a quick note to Blaise, making sure it sounded enthusiastic about the Death Eaters' standing then using what he hoped was a similar charm to Blaise's to hide the secret note. They'd be there by tomorrow night, he was sure of it, and if Blaise didn't have all the younger students away from the school, there were sure to be more casualties than if they were gone. Once he was sure the letter was safely away from the Manor, he took a deep breath and headed downstairs for dinner.

Draco made a point of surrounding himself with their Death Eater guests that night. If anything had changed, he wanted to know what the new plan was. It was hard to know who to talk with, though, as everyone was discussing something different and Draco didn't feel particularly drawn to any of them.

As he stood towards the back of the drawing room and looked around the room, he knew tonight was the last night. Every Death Eater he knew of was standing in the Manor. Bottles of wine levitated around the room and the Manor was full of the sound of pre-battle celebrations. Even his father was partaking in the celebration.

"You look uninterested, Draco," a high voice said behind him. He spun around, not entirely surprised to see the Dark Lord behind him. Thankfully, his beady red eyes weren't on him, but on the other Death Eaters. "One might say you don't enjoy your position," the Dark Lord said. As he turned his eyes on Draco, Draco glanced down at his drink discreetly.

"Don't get me wrong, I do very much enjoy where I'm at," Draco said, twirling the champagne glass in his hand. Where was that disgusting Firewhiskey they always had in Hogsmeade? It may not taste very good, but at least it could put him out of his misery faster than whatever bubbling champagne was being served.

"You wish for more of young age," the Dark Lord assumed. Draco had been about to say that, so he nodded. He did a quick double-check to make sure no one was trying _Legilimency_ on him and was content to discover they were not. He was most familiar with what the Dark Lord felt like when exploring his mind and the lack of searing knives cutting through his thoughts however inconspicuously was reassuring. He'd learned early on that no one could enter a mind completely undetectable and it was important to know what his thoughts felt like without the presence of another. Both his mother and Severus were such skilled _Legilimens_ that if he hadn't been paying attention, he wouldn't have noticed them perusing his thoughts. Thankfully, most others were not as subtle and the Dark Lord was definitely among them.

"It does get rather lonely when the closest one to my age is my own Aunt," Draco mused, his eyes flitting over his Aunt Bella as he spoke. The Dark Lord hummed and the sound sent a shiver down his spine.

"By tomorrow night, everyone worthy of my ranks will have joined," the Dark Lord said, his eyes returning to the mass of Death Eaters drinking and talking. "We will have victory and your friends will finally be free to join us."

Draco took a silent deep breath, forcing thoughts of what Mulciber had planned from his head. He locked them away in their own separate box of his mind and raised his glass to his lips as he said, "Then I suppose tomorrow will be the best day of my life."


	18. Chapter 18

Something was terribly wrong. Even without windows to show her the weather outside, Hermione could sense it. Voldemort would be making an appearance any moment and they were stuck just biding their time. The younger students, while nervous, didn't appear to be as aware of the worsening circumstances.

Harry had arrived last night through the portrait connecting them to Hogsmeade. His presence had lifted everyone's spirits as he told them about his and Ron's journey to destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes. Unfortunately, Hermione had heard enough from them via patronus to know there was still one out there. Nagini was too close to Voldemort to easily access and whenever he decided to attack would really be the only time they could kill her.

"Are you absolutely sure it will work, Harry?" Ginny asked. Luna was entertaining some of the first years with tales about nargles and other creatures while Harry and Ron had pulled her, Ginny, and Neville aside.

"It's our only option," Harry whispered back. The sword of Gryffindor had been charmed by Hermione to appear in the hands of whoever called on it during the battle. Whoever got closest to the snake would need to call on the sword in order to spear its head before any of them could even attempt to kill Voldemort. It was risky and there was a much lower chance it would work than Hermione was ready to admit, but like Harry had said, it was their only option.

"Do you know for sure all the other Horcruxes are destroyed?" Neville asked. They couldn't be certain, but Hermione had done enough reading and research to be fairly certain Nagini was the only one left. After that, they should be able to kill Voldemort and have him die with no chance of resurrection.

"So all we have to do is kill a snake?" Ginny asked, sounding much calmer about everything than Hermione knew she actually was. "Yeah, should be easy—"

"Give me Harry Potter!"

The entire room froze. The voice echoed through the halls outside and Hermione could feel the demand bouncing around the room. Everyone turned to look at Harry. No one needed to ask who had made the demand. The nasally voice was too distinguishable and their current situation was impossible to ignore.

"Give me Harry Potter in the next thirty minutes or I will destroy your castle!"

Hermione wanted to reassure everyone that was impossible. Hogwarts had impenetrable spells protecting it, but Voldemort had thousands of followers and alliances with creatures like trolls and werewolves. The odds of him breaking through the barrier weren't looking good despite how much Hermione wanted to believe in them.

"What do we do?" Ginny whispered. A million thoughts raced through Hermione's head all at once. If Voldemort was here, that meant the Death Eaters were too. While that meant Draco was currently with them wherever they were, that quite possibly meant the Carrows were as well. Running into a Death Eater if they were to leave the Room of Requirement was unlikely and she knew leaving the students trapped like sitting ducks wouldn't do. Before anyone else could offer up a solution, Hermione was giving instructions.

"Harry, Ron, go find McGonagall," she said, shooing them towards the door. She turned to Ginny and Neville to say, "Get everyone out of the castle and into Hogsmeade. They should be safe enough there, but Hogwarts isn't right now. I'm going to see who's left to fight, but our first priority is getting the DA to safety—"

"We want to fight too!" one of the students called out. Hermione paused. She turned to look out over the sea of faces that had been holed up in the Room of Requirement for the past few days. All of them were younger than her. While there were several fifth and sixth years, there were also a lot of first and second years.

"All third years and younger must leave," she decided. She was met with a loud array of protests but she silenced them with a wave of her wand. "Third year and younger leave. Everyone who wants to can stay, but it's not going to be like practice with the DA."

Ginny and Neville started sending students through the portrait while Hermione gave a few more orders. She needed to make sure everyone who stayed behind knew it wasn't going to be an easy battle. Death Eaters were malicious and Voldemort would stop at nothing to destroy everyone in his path. As long as the older students knew what they were there for, they could stay behind.

"Meet us in the Great Hall after," she instructed Ginny. Ginny nodded and Hermione flew from the Room and down to the Great Hall.

Just like she'd thought, McGonagall was speaking with the few students she hadn't sheltered as well as Harry. Clearly, Harry's presence had set off quite a ruckus and McGonagall was only just now able to start talking. At Hermione's appearance, the chatter started again.

"We are not sending you over, Mr. Potter," McGonagall was whispering furiously. Harry seemed to be arguing with her, but Ron was in agreement and Hermione was as well. "The Order will be here in minutes and we can figure out something then."

"If you think I'm going to stay in the castle with Voldemort brings terror down, you're wrong, Professor," Harry snapped. McGonagall was not amused. She conceded to wait ten minutes and if the Order didn't arrive by then, Harry could turn himself over as long as he was accompanied by another who was efficiently hidden.

"That's too risky," Hermione argued. The Death Eaters would know Harry wasn't alone and sending another student over would make things worse.

"What would you suggest then, Miss Granger?" McGonagall demanded. Hermione wasn't quite sure yet, but she did have an idea forming. An idea struck her so hard her head snapped up to look around the Great Hall. Sure enough, Zabini and Parkinson were standing amongst the students and murmuring to each other.

"Send Zabini," Hermione said, still staring at the two. As if he'd heard her, Blaise looked up from across the room. McGonagall was already starting to protest, but Hermione didn't care to listen. "His father's a Death Eater, so no one will harm him if he takes Harry. Besides," she said, turning to face the small group, "We can trust him. He's not like them."

"And I suppose you know this personally?"

"Yes, Ronald," Hermione snapped, glaring at him. They had eleven minutes left at most. "While you and Harry were gone, Zabini helped me stop Amycus Carrow from torturing students with the _cruciatus_ curse and Parkinson assisted in hiding the Slytherins the DA couldn't take in. We can trust them." 

No one dared to argue with her. McGonagall looked rightfully ready to fight her on it, but Blaise and Pansy appeared between Hermione and Ron, still bickering together before turning to ask what the plan was. Ron was immediately scowling, but Harry looked willing to give her idea a try.

"What's the plan, 'Mione?" Blaise asked. She knew he'd called her that just to see Ron's face scrunch up, but she didn't point it out. They were running out of time as they spoke and McGonagall had argued the least with her plan.

"You're taking Harry to Voldemort," she said bluntly. Blaise flinched at the name and Hermione was a little surprised.

"Merlin, didn't Draco tell you it was taboo to say that name?" Blaise asked. Hermione didn't care anymore and she let him know that. Voldemort was currently planning to attack and they already knew where she was, so let them come.

"So I just walk Potter up to the Dark Lord himself and pass him on like a box of chocolates?" Blaise asked. Hermione shrugged. That sounded enough like the plan she would take it. Now they just had to make sure Harry got up to Voldemort before he started raining hellfire down on the school.


	19. Chapter 19

Draco was fidgeting. He couldn't help himself as he stood on a hill overlooking Hogwarts, awaiting the Dark Lord's command to attack. The snarls from Greyback's pack could be heard even from this far away and he almost shivered at the thought of what they would do to anyone they encountered. He could feel the excitement radiating from the group around him; they were all excited to kill young wizards and witches with the hope of taking over the world. The thought was disgusting. 

"He's not going to show?" the Dark Lord asked angrily. Draco knew the question wasn't directed at anyone, but Yaxley felt the urge to answer anyway.

"Maybe he's on his way and we can't see him in the dark," he suggested. There was a smack and Dolohov could be heard hissing at Yaxley. Draco rolled his eyes and his hand subconsciously moved to hold the amulet from Hermione.

"Look!"

Draco's hand dropped from the amulet and snapped up at the sound of someone's voice. He squinted into the dark, barely able to see movement despite Mulciber's insistence it was Potter. Someone cast a revealing charm and light surrounded Potter as Blaise led him up the hill. Draco frowned. What was Blaise doing here? And why had Potter just turned himself over so easily?

The Dark Lord started laughing. Slowly the other Death Eaters joined in as Potter walked closer and closer to the group. By the time Potter was being forced to his knees by Blaise, the entire group of Death Eaters was cackling gleefully. At the Dark Lord's snap, however, everyone shut up.

"Harry Potter," he hummed. He stepped closer to Potter who didn't so much as flinch. The Dark Lord reached out as if he was going to touch the scar on his forehead, but paused before he did. "Heroes like you are too predictable. I suppose you came so I would spare your precious Hogwarts and leave your friends alone?"

Potter didn't answer, but Draco could see his eyes narrow slightly. From where he stood, Draco could see Blaise tapping his thumb and middle finger together rapidly. The nervous habit had been discovered halfway through their second year at Hogwarts and Draco was no stranger to it. Whatever Potter was planning, Blaise was in on it. That probably meant Hermione was too and if she was in on it, they were likely relying on Draco. But for what?

"Before I kill you," the Dark Lord said, "I'm going to make you watch me destroy your school."

Without another word, he let out a loud cry and shot his wand up and out towards Hogwarts. Draco held his breath and watched as a beam of magic collided with the Hogwarts barrier. The light stayed focused on the barrier and seconds later, more magic was shooting out and Draco realised the Death Eaters had joined it. He found himself raising his wand as well, making eye contact with Blaise before sending the weakest magic he could at the school. It took almost a minute, but with the amount of magic and the pure rage sent with it, the barrier collapsed.

"Let's go kill some Mudbloods!"

"Wait!" the Dark Lord demanded, stopping Rudolphus in his tracks and turning to look back down at Potter. "I want him to watch his school burn."

A harsh swish of his wand sent an orange beam of magic shooting toward the castle and Draco saw something explode. Greyback howled and the werewolves charged. He couldn't breathe as he wondered where Hermione was and if he'd be able to get to her before anyone else. The second the Dark Lord let them invade, he'd seek her out.

Potter was screaming, but Draco wasn't listening. More explosions broke walls of the castle and the bridge below started to burn.

"Your sacrifice was in vain, Mr. Potter," the Dark Lord hissed. He leveled his wand at Harry's head and whispered, " _Avada Kedavra_."

Blaise sprang out of the way faster than Draco had ever seen anyone move. As Potter crumpled to the ground, Death Eaters cheered in victory and launched themselves at the castle. Draco and Blaise made eye contact before the Dark Lord levitated Potter's body and flew down to the courtyard of Hogwarts. Before Draco could ask what the plan had been, Blaise was grabbing his arm and apparating them into the castle.

They appeared in the Great Hall. Rubble was falling from the sky and kids were screaming. Draco was lost in the chaos before Blaise shook him to get his attention.

"—Nagini!" he was saying.

"What?" Draco yelled.

"We have to kill Nagini! The snake!" Blaise repeated. Draco couldn't care less about the Dark Lord's stupid pet snake, but apparently Blaise was set on it. He disappeared before Draco could ask him more questions, though, and Draco was left in the chaotic mess of the Great Hall.

Spotting a few younger students sobbing in the corner, he ran over to them and covered them with a shield charm. They hardly spared him a glance as they crouched even lower. Draco sped off in search of Nagini and Hermione, not sure which he should find first. When he came crashing into Hermione, though, he had his answer. He grabbed her arms before she could duck away and immediately checked her over for injuries.

"Now's not the time, Draco," she said, fighting his grip. He held her tightly as more rubble came crashing down around them. They jumped as the ceiling fell closer than they felt comfortable with and Hermione looked up at him. "We sent Harry with Zabini. Is he safe? We need to kill the snake before we can kill Voldemort."

Draco didn't want to tell her he'd been murdered already and that her plan had failed, so he nodded.

"He's alright," he lied. Hermione relaxed just a bit before straightening up and sending a curse behind him. Draco twisted around to see Yaxley writhing on the ground as deep wounds cut across his body. _Sectumsempra_ , he realised. Hermione had hit someone with an actual curse.

"We need to go, Draco," she said, snapping him out of his daze. Her lip was split and bleeding and there was a cut on her forehead, but Draco was just glad she was alive. He pulled her up to meet his lips and kissed her as long as he dared to with a battle raging around them.

"Stay safe," he told her. She smiled softly and nodded before darting away and disappearing into the crowd. Wherever she was going, Draco knew it wouldn't be safe. However, the ring had been hanging from her neck so he'd know if she was truly in danger. In the meantime, he supposed he should find that snake and kill it before things got too far out of hand.


	20. Chapter 20

It felt like the battle had been going on for days before Hermione heard Neville had finally killed the snake. She'd just sent a vicious curse she had learned from Harry's Halfblood Prince potions book at a Death Eater when Neville had appeared beside her holding the Gryffindor sword and Nagini's head. The excitement of their success tore her eyes away from the man writhing in front of her and she raced to find Ron and Harry to tell them they could kill Voldemort.

"Has anyone seen Harry?" she yelled as she ran through the crowds. Anyone who actually listened to her shook their head. As she darted through the hallways, she started to realise no one had seen Harry since he'd left with Zabini. She paused before racing towards the Quidditch field. Where was Harry? She hadn't seen Zabini either, but Harry was their winning ticket.

She was so distracted by thinking about where Harry could possibly be, she didn't hear someone behind her until it was too late. Rather than yell a curse at her, though, they jumped on her back and knocked her to the ground. The air left her lungs as her face was crushed into the ground and she tried to turn her head so she could breathe. Her attacker didn't let up, however, and pressed her into the ground until she started losing consciousness.

"Looking for your Harry Potter?" the person growled. She was rolled onto her back aggressively and looked up at the face of Fenrir Greyback. Her heart stopped as he snarled above her. "He's dead, love. Dead like his parents."

"You're wrong," Hermione said, fingers stretching to where she could see her wand lying on the ground. Draco had said he was alive and he wouldn't lie to her. Greyback was just trying to catch her off guard.

"It's true," he said. His face dropped down until it was mere centimeters from hers and she turned her head to the side. He leaned closer until his lips brushed her ear when he told her, "He screamed as they first attacked then crumpled to the ground like a baby. Would you scream like he did? Would you do it for me?"

His tongue ran along her ear and Hermione shivered. Before she could worry just what he would do to her in the middle of a battlefield, his body went stiff and he was pushed off of her. Ginny's face looked down at her worriedly before she reached down to help Hermione to her feet.

"Have you found him yet?" Ginny asked. Hermione didn't have to ask to know she meant Harry and not Voldemort. She shook her head. "I saw Zabini in the Slytherin dungeons. Harry has to be nearby."

"Of course," Hermione agreed. She heard Greyback's words echoing in her mind and shook them away. "We need to find Voldemort, though. Kill him now that the snake is dead."

"Not without Harry," Ginny insisted. Hermione was about to protest before a voice echoed over the grounds.

"Harry Potter is dead."

Ginny sucked in a breath and Hermione turned to see Voldemort floating down from the mountain and levitating Harry's body. That was impossible. It should have been impossible. They'd had a plan and this wasn't part of it. Greyback was the liar here, not Draco, and Harry was alive.

However, as the battle slowed and people turned to look at Voldemort, it became harder to convince herself of that fact.

"Your battle is over," Voldemort cried. As if by silent command, the Death Eaters returned to Voldemort's side. Hermione noticed with a pang in her heart that Draco stood among them. Blaise and Pansy stood by their fathers as well as a few other Slytherin students Hermione didn't recognise. With the lack of spell casting and the sight of Harry lying on the ground between Voldemort and the castle, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if this really was the end of things.

"No," Ginny whispered. Her hands wrapped around Hermione's arm and Hermione squeezed her fingers tightly. They couldn't lose. This wasn't possible.

"You all have seconds to join my ranks before I kill you all," Voldemort threatened. No one moved. Voldemort floated to the space where Harry was lying. He kicked his body and nothing happened. "Do you want proof your hero is dead? Will that inspire your loyalty?"

Voldemort raised his wand and as he did, Harry raised his. His cry of " _Avada Kedavra_ " covered the gasps that sounded in the courtyard. Voldemort shrieked before the spell hit him and he dropped to the ground, his body melting away as Harry got to his feet. The courtyard was silent.

"Your Dark Lord is dead," Harry spat at the Death Eaters. Hermione's mind was running at the speed of a thousand words a second. What was happening? Somehow Harry had fooled Voldemort into thinking he was dead, yes? But how had he done it?

Harry marched over to the spot Voldemort had melted and snatched the Elder wand from the ground. As he gripped the wand, several Death Eaters stepped back. Harry glared at all of them.

"Your Dark Lord is dead," he repeated, pointing the Elder wand to where Voldemort had disappeared. "And you will be held accountable for your actions."

McGonagall was waving her wand a second later, immobilizing the entire span of Death Eaters before any one of them could disappear. Hermione held her breath as she repeated the spell four times just to sure. As soon as they were certain the Death Eaters and nearby werewolves were stuck, McGonagall was the first to pull Harry into a hug. Ginny and Hermione made it to his side next with Ron, Neville, Luna, and everyone else closing in shortly after. Ginny was in tears, but so was most everyone else. Hermione found her own eyes watering as she hugged her best friend then stepped back to find Molly and Fred and Charlie and all the other Weasleys she'd only seen in passing during the battle.

"Hermione, dear!" Mrs. Weasley cried, pulling her in for a hug. Her other arm wrapped around Ginny and soon the other Weasley boys were joining the hug and there was a large mass of Weasleys standing on the battlefield and hugging.

It didn't take too long for Aurors to come and gather the group of Death Eaters. There wasn't enough room in the Ministry holding cells, however, so they were taken straight to Azkaban to await their trial. Each Auror grabbed two Death Eaters at a time and within two hours, the whole group was gone. Unfortunately, Hermione had realised too late Draco was among the group. She'd managed to spot Blaise and Pansy before the Auror was able to apparate with them, trying to fix the confusion.

"They were with us, I swear," she said. Holding Blaise's stiff arm so the Auror couldn't apparate without taking her too. "Blaise was sent to help Harry and Pansy's been protecting younger students all year. Them being there is just a misunderstanding."

"You can visit the Ministry in the morning to provide memory evidence," the Auror replied. Hermione glared at him. Before she could demand he listen to her as she was Hermione Granger, best friend to Harry Potter and clearly more in the know about what happened at the battle than this Auror, Harry appeared behind her.

"They were with us," he told the Auror. The man was clearly uncomfortable letting the two go, grumbling as he removed McGonagall's spell from them and moving to grab two other Death Eaters.

"Thanks, Granger," Blaise said, rubbing his arm where she'd grabbed him. "You gave a real compelling speech."

"Oh, shove it, Zabini," she snapped back. Even though she'd prevented Pansy and Blaise from being wrongfully imprisoned, Draco had still been taken and she knew his family was high enough ranking in Voldemort's followers they would be a priority.

"Is Draco here?" Harry asked her. Hermione shook her head and refused to cry about it. He'd be fine for one night. She'd march into the Ministry the next day, provide memories proving Draco's innocence and he'd be out by the next night. First, though, they had to finish checking on everyone after the battle and make a plan to fix the castle.


	21. Chapter 21

Draco wasn't stupid. He had known he'd be screwed over as soon as his father aligned himself with the Dark Lord. Of course, he wasn't allowed to talk about what would happen if the Dark Lord did lose, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it. Clearly he hadn't been wrong in the slightest when he figured he'd be escorted off to Azkaban without question. He'd considered trying to tell the Aurors he hadn't been on the Dark Lord's side, but the name Malfoy held certain expectations and no one would have believed him. At the very least, he knew Hermione would storm the Ministry and he wouldn't be stuck in the grimy prison for long. Arriving at the front gates was more than he had ever wanted to experience of Azkaban.

"Regret your choices yet, Malfoy?" an Auror sneered as he led Draco into the prison.

Draco kept his mouth shut as the Auror handed him off to a prison guard. He stayed quiet even when the guard grabbed him too tightly and shoved him around rougher than necessary. As he was escorted into a cell and a change of clothes was thrust into his arms, he scowled at the guard and waited for him to leave.

"Get changed," the guard ordered. Draco kept his eyes narrowed at the man, waiting for him to leave. When he finally turned and walked away, Draco quickly changed from his robes into the prison uniform. Once he was dressed, he sat in the corner of the cell to await his cellmate.

He wasn't sure exactly what to expect. A part of him thought maybe they would keep all the Death Eaters separated to prevent them from joining forces. The other part of him was pretty sure the Ministry wouldn't find them a threat now that they were all stripped of their wands and locked away in the heaviest guarded prison known to wizards. When Mulciber was shoved into the same cell as him, though, Draco wished he'd managed to hide like a coward when the Aurors had shown up.

"I'll _Avada_ that fucking kid myself next time," Mulciber grumbled. Draco looked away when he changed out of his robes, continuing to grumble threats about Harry Potter as he did so. "The Dark Lord was weak; I'd slice that motherfucker's head off myself just for a bit of fun."

Draco chose not to imagine Potter without his head and what that would have led to. Luckily for him, Mulciber's grumblings became too quiet to fully understand and Draco easily tuned him out.

There was no telling how long he would be in that cell with Mulciber before Hermione came to get him out. He had no doubt she would come; it was just a matter of how long before she did. Would she come as soon as she had five minutes to spare or would he have to wait until the mess at Hogwarts was cleaned up? He knew there was no way she'd leave the Order and her friends to clean up on their own, but surely she'd come before his inevitable trial. There was no telling how soon the Ministry would want to officially convict all Death Eaters, but Draco didn't particularly want to spend longer than a couple of hours confined in a place with every single follower of Voldemort.

By the time the Aurors had finished bringing those at Hogwarts into Azkaban, it was loud. Some of the Death Eaters were yelling threats at the guards and the werewolves that had been captured were snarling along. Draco remained in his corner while Mulciber and Dolohov led the cry for revenge. Clearly Azkaban had not been prepared to hold so many at once as some cells had three or even four wizards inside. Draco did notice with mild amusement that the werewolves were kept separately from the others.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, Draco?" Mulciber sneered from the gate of their cell. Draco spared him a bored glance and was unsurprised to see a wicked sneer was spread across Mulciber's ugly face. "Join the fun, won't you?"

"Only those with empty heads think empty threats are fun," Draco retorted. Mulciber glared at him but returned his attention to harassing the lone guard walking down the hall. 

Once the guards stopped coming through, the jeering and empty threats ceased and most everyone retreated into their cells. Dolohov and a few others stayed up talking about ways to get out; to revive the Dark Lord or even create a new one. Draco tried to ignore them. 

At some point, Draco noticed his father was in the cell across from him, staring blankly at the wall. He didn't move in acknowledgment. He stayed where he was and continued to ignore Mulciber's crude depictions of what they should be doing right now.

"They'd be in the rags and we'd be reigning over them," he growled. Draco just blinked in response. He'd heard enough about Mulciber's disgusting slave trade idea the past week to last him a lifetime. If he had to listen to it more in Azkaban, he was certain he'd tear the man limb from limb without magic. Luckily for him, Hermione was sure to come or at least tell someone to get him before he could be driven too far insane. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be her biggest priority. 

Draco saw more of the guards the following morning when they brought them all food, but he didn't see Hermione. When they'd first walked in, he'd thought perhaps they were escorting Hermione in to get him. Seeing a pot of porridge lying on the ground had only disappointed him further and he remained still in his corner.

Most of the others seemed content to yell at the guards whenever they walked through. Aside from the occasional glare or glance, the guards seemed to ignore the yelling. As he listened to Greyback snarl threats at every passing guard and his pack hoot in agreement, Draco couldn't help but hope someone other than Hermione would be the one to escort him out of Azkaban. He wasn't so much afraid of the Death Eaters and wolves seeing him with her, but more about what they would shout at her if she were to walk into the hallway and pass the many cells before his.

He spent all day wondering what was going on at Hogwarts. He hadn't seen Blaise or Pansy, so they'd been pulled away from the Aurors before they could be taken away to Azkaban. Who else of his friends had Hermione been responsible for keeping safe? He hadn't seen any of his classmates or friends in Azkaban so far, but there was no way she'd made it around in time to talk all the Aurors out of taking them. Had Potter and Weasley helped? Perhaps Severus's tie to the Order had provided a foolproof way to know which students had and hadn't been for the Dark Lord's reign. Perhaps, however, that was why he was still there. Had Severus forgotten about him or had he been too busy to talk to the Ministry officials on his behalf? Without knowing what was going on at Hogwarts, how was he to know when trials would start or when he'd be let go?

As Rabastan Lestrange shouted a cry for vengeance and other Death Eaters cheered, Draco was hit with a sinking worry. What if he wasn't going to be let out? What if he was being left as an example? The son of a Death Eater: made into an example for not speaking out against them. If that was the case, he was certainly screwed. 


	22. Chapter 22

Hermione was exhausted. She was so tired she was surprised she was still standing upright and making sense when she spoke. While all she wanted to do was sit down for a moment, she knew she wouldn't get back up if she did. There was still so much to do after the battle and so many kids to take care of that she couldn't stop yet. As long as she stayed focused, she could get everything done quickly then go get Draco.

"Hermione."

With the speed of cold molasses, Hermione turned to see who had called for her. She blinked and suddenly Blaise Zabini was standing in front of her. He looked worried, but she couldn't remember the last time someone hadn't looked worried around her. 

"You should take a break," he told her. Hermione shook her head and when she focused again on Blaise, it felt like an hour had passed by. He gently grabbed her shoulders and steered her to a ledge where she could sit. "Everyone's taken a break except you."

"There's so much to do," she told him. She watched as Ginny vanished a bunch of rubble across the room. When she looked back at Blaise, she realised he'd just finished saying something. He didn't seem to care she hadn't been listening at all and just smiled. 

"This is what I mean," he said, "You need a break. The clean up here is going to take weeks and we can do the immediate repairs without you."

"But Draco—"

"I'll take care of it," Blaise promised. Hermione frowned. The Aurors were unlikely to listen to Blaise, but if she could tell him to tell Harry to tell—

"Hermione?"

She blinked and Harry had joined Blaise in front of her.

"Harry!" she exclaimed. She must have tipped forward because both Harry and Blaise moved to steady her and she felt the world sway around her a little. "You need to tell Kingsley Draco isn't a Death Eater. He doesn't deserve to be in Azkaban with them."

"When was the last time you slept, Hermione?" Harry asked, ignoring her directions. Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed him away when he looked a little too concerned for her. "You look exhausted and—"

"Well I did just fight off a hoard of Death Eaters," Hermione snapped. Harry fell silent and Hermione couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "I'm sorry, Harry. I am tired, there's just too much to do. Hogwarts is destroyed and there are so many students we need to get home."

"I talked to McGonagall and she said they'll wait until summer to fix Hogwarts," Harry told her. Around them, people were still clearing away rubble, but Hermione could tell no one was attempting to fix the school. "Our priority right now is to clear the rubble and find anyone trapped underneath. Pansy took all the students into Hogsmeade a while ago."

Hermione paused. When had all that happened? She could have sworn she was just on her way to—Oh. She had been on her way to help Pansy escort the students to Hogsmeade when Luna and Neville had asked for her help taking a few of those that had been injured to Madam Pomfrey. On her way from the infirmary, she'd gotten distracted by Blaise and then Harry.

"It's all taken care of then?" she asked. Harry and Blaise both nodded and she felt her body slowly relax. She felt her back hit a wall behind her and her eyelids suddenly felt much heavier than they had a second ago. Harry's lips moved and Blaise grinned, but she was too tired to focus on much of anything else and it wasn't long before all she could see was black. She could rest for a little while since Harry seemed so sure everything was okay for the moment, but in five minutes, she would get up and continue to help.

When she opened her eyes again, however, she had the feeling more than five minutes had passed. Almost all the rubble had been cleared and while the castle was still destroyed, it looked better without crumbled rock everywhere. At first, she thought she might be alone, but she could hear muffled voices around the corner and a mass of red hair was resting against her shoulder. The soft snoring told her it was Ginny beside her and as the voices came around the corner, she was met with smiles from both Harry and Kingsley, the newly appointed Minister of Magic.

"Oh, Kingsley! I need to talk to you," Hermione said, scrambling to her feet before he could slip away.

"If it's about Draco Malfoy, the matter has already been discussed," he said. Hermione frowned. They hadn't talked about him with her around? How was she supposed to know if he'd been accurately or fairly represented? If someone else had managed to convince Kingsley that Draco was a Death Eater through and through, how would she manage to get him out of Azkaban now?

"Kingsley, I swear he didn't want to be apart of them!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and waking Ginny up in the process. "He's helped me all school year and whatever you've heard, it's not true. He's not a bad person!"

"I don't know what you've heard," Kinglsey said, giving her a worried smile, "But I know Draco Malfoy isn't apart of the Death Eaters. I'll arrange with Azkaban tomorrow for you to bring him back where the Wizenmagot will ask for him to testify against all Death Eaters and any accomplices. They will also ask him to provide memory evidence in exchange for his freedom."

Hermione felt like an exchange was unnecessary seeing as Draco hadn't been guilty in the first place, but Kingsley was clearly trying to do the right thing so she accepted it. It made sense the Wizenmagot would want solid intel on any hideouts or missing Death Eaters and Draco was an easy source. Anyone in the public who had a problem with Draco going free could be told his freedom had been in exchange for information, a common bargaining tool from the first wizarding war. 

"I can't go today?" Hermione asked. Kingsley shook his head. He was busy making sure all those who had fought at Hogwarts were either taken to the hospital or otherwise taken care of. There were still so many people unaccounted for despite all the clean-up they'd done, it would be a while before Kingsley would have time to deal with those who had been imprisoned.

"As soon as I can, I will contact the prison for you," Kingsley promised. Hermione couldn't help but feel like he could be doing more, but she also knew he was trying hard. If she had been newly appointed Minister after a war, she wasn't sure what she would do. At least Kingsley had plans. As long as he didn't try to forget Draco in Azkaban, she supposed she would trust him to do his thing. In the meantime, she would find McGonagall or someone who could give her something to do.


	23. Chapter 23

When Draco found himself facing another night in Azkaban, he started to worry just how bad the battle at Hogwarts had been. He knew there was no way everyone had gotten out unharmed but had it been worse than he'd initially thought? Just how many people had died? He'd been one of the first escorted to Azkaban so he supposed it wasn't too unrealistic to think something could have happened after he'd been taken away. That thought, however, was not reassuring. Certainly, the others would have said something about a second attack happening. Bragging was a born Death Eater trait after all.

As they had last night, the Death Eaters shouted and shrieked when the Azkaban guards walked through the hall. Draco remained in his corner even when Mulciber taunted him for several minutes. It was no use entertaining a madman when he would soon be leaving.

Rather than die down partway through the night like the first time, the shouts continued until early in the morning. Draco managed to doze off at quieter times, but when he wasn't awoken by Mulciber banging on the cell doors, he was woken up by flashes of a nightmare. When his breakfast porridge arrived, he gave up on sleep altogether.

"These bastards won't defeat us!" Yaxley yelled from down the hall. Draco rolled his eyes and sniffed his porridge. One of the Lestrange brothers told Yaxley to shut up, he didn't know much of anything anyway. Draco was lucky when it worked for a few minutes and the prison resumed a much more normal level of noise. 

He had only taken a couple of bites from his porridge but already decided he was done when there was noise from down the hall. He couldn't understand what was being yelled, but the yelling got louder and more aggressive as more Death Eaters shot to the doors of their cells.

As the guards got closer, the yelling got louder. Draco could make out what was being yelled now and he frowned at the foul language. Someone had to be with the guards to inspire such crude commentary from the prisoners. 

"I'll fuck every hole in you when I'm out, Mudblood!" Mulciber screamed. Draco shot to his feet. Mudblood. It was Hermione. These bastards were yelling at Hermione.

As Draco found his way to the edge of his cell, he could see the guards down the hall. They slammed batons against the cells to force prisoners back, but it wasn't doing much from what Draco could see. Even the magic in the cell doors was hardly keeping the Death Eaters from trying to lunge into the hallway. Mulciber was shaking as the magic shot from the cell doors into his arms as he pressed against it.

"Come to entertain us, bitch?" Dolohov yelled from across the hall. Draco sent him a scathing glare and his father raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't care. 

The guards stopped in front of his cell and immobilised Mulciber before moving the cell door back. Draco just stared as the guards parted in front of him and he was faced with Hermione smiling timidly at him.

"No funny business, Malfoy," one of the guards said with a glare. Draco nodded at him and stepped forward to stand beside Hermione.

As the guards surrounded them both and they were escorted out of the prison, Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand tightly. She stared straight ahead blankly, but every now and then her grip on his hand would tighten and Draco would hear what had just been shouted at them clearer than the other garbled threats. Most were disgusting and directed at Hermione, but Draco could tell when they spotted him alongside her because the insults changed direction.

"Blood traitor! Your family will die ashamed of you!"

Draco didn't even flinch. It was more the things they yelled at Hermione that had his blood boiling and his eyes narrowing on the door so far ahead. Why had he been put in the cell furthest down the hall? Had the Azkaban prison halls always been this long? 

"Auntie Bella will skin you alive, boy," a familiar voice shrieked. Draco's attention was torn from the door ahead as he turned to look at his Aunt Bella. He stopped in his tracks as he locked eyes on her and noticed not for the first time how truly insane she was. "I'll skin you alive then let you watch as I ruin your little toy!"

Draco's free hand clenched and he felt Hermione's reach around his arm. He'd taken a step towards Bellatrix's cell without thinking and the guards hadn't even tried to stop him. It was Hermione who pulled him back into the safety of the guarded circle and forced him to continue the rest of the way to the exit. 

As soon as they had passed through all the prison wards and they were no longer surrounded by Azkaban guards, Hermione threw herself at Draco and hugged him tightly. One guard eyed them both, but after Draco glared him down, he looked away. As badly as Draco wanted to keep Hermione wrapped up in his arms and safely away from the Death Eaters and werewolves nearby, he knew they needed to separate so he could get everything settled and leave. It was lucky Hermione had Kingsley on her side because none of the Azkaban guards seemed excited about letting him leave and made sure they both knew it. When he'd finally gotten his wand back and changed into his own robes, Hermione was radiating with irritation and it was all Draco could do to walk out the prison doors without snapping.

When the door slammed shut behind them, Draco realised just how well the surrounding area matched the prison. It was dark and dreary, but he also didn't know what time it was so he supposed it could be evening. Standing outside with the cold breeze swirling around them reminded Draco just where they were and he was suddenly in a bit of a hurry to apparate away.

He didn't ask Hermione where she'd been planning on taking him. In fact, he probably should have checked to make sure he didn't need to talk to the new Minister or the Wizenmagot before apparating home. As soon as he and Hermione were standing in front of Malfoy Manor, though, the thought crossed his mind.

"I'm sorry," he said, releasing her hand. "I probably should have asked before bringing you here."

"I figured it's where you'd go first," Hermione told him. Draco glanced up at the tall doors before looking back at Hermione when she said, "I already talked to Kingsley and he'll wait until tomorrow for you to visit. Of course, there are some strings attached to your release from Azkaban, but I figured—"

And just like that, she was rambling and Draco couldn't help but smile. He knew there would be caveats and things he'd need to guarantee in order to secure his freedom from Azkaban, but they didn't matter as he watched Hermione talk about all the work that still needed to be done and why she'd been unable to ask him first if the terms of his release were alright with him. 

"—understand why I wouldn't want to visit more than necessary but—"

"I love you," Draco said. Hermione promptly cut herself off mid-sentence and looked at him. He reached for her and laced his fingers through hers before pulling her to his chest. He brought one hand up to cup her cheek as he smiled down at her. "Everything about you, I just—I love you," he said softly.

Slowly, Hermione smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

"I love you too," she said quietly, pulling him ever so slightly closer.

Draco didn't need any more of a hint and leaned down to kiss her. It had been several days, over a week in fact, since he'd last kissed her, and then there had been the threat of death. Now, with the Dark Lord gone and only the Wizenmagot's requests to face, things seemed so much simpler. At least, they did until his mother opened the front door and walked out to see them kissing, promptly forcing them apart in an attempt to recover their dignity. It didn't matter when, not even a minute later, Draco was hugging his mother for the first time in a long time and the Manor didn't reek of Death Eaters and Dark Magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Thank you all so much for reading and if you enjoyed this book, check out some of my other Dramione stories! I have put this book in my series devoted entirely to my Dramione works so they're all easy to find, but stay tuned because I have more coming!


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